BOSTON — Democratic Rep. Lori Trahan is planning to conduct an “oversight” visit of an ICE facility where immigrants facing deportation are being held by federal authorities.
Trahan said she will make an official visit on Tuesday to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in Burlington, including a tour of the building and meetings with ICE officials. The administrative building is one of 25 ICE Enforcement and Removal Operation facilities nationwide.
The Westford Democrat said in a prepared statement she has concerns about conditions in the ICE facility and whether detainees are getting access to immigration attorneys or are being whisked away to other ICE locations without due process.
She cited the case of a 14-year-old Marlborough girl detained by federal immigration agents who was transferred to New York before a federal judge ordered her release.
Trahan’s visit comes as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security remains partially shutdown amid a partisan impasse in Congress over proposed reforms ICE’s operations that has dragged on for more than a month.
Democrats have held up support for DHS’s budget in an effort to push through the ICE reforms, but Republicans who control Congress say that the partial shutdown is forcing federal workers to go without pay and snarling traffic at major U.S. airports.
In her statement, Trahan blamed the impasse on Republican leaders’ “refusal to rein in the reckless, illegal conduct of masked immigration agents in communities across the country.
“So far this year, two American citizens have been killed by federal immigration authorities, while more than twenty detainees have died in ICE custody,” she said.
The Burlington facility, a two-story administrative building next to a mall, has become ground zero in Massachusetts Democrats’ push against what they say is unlawful overreach and aggressive tactics by federal immigration agents.
For months, protesters have held “vigils” outside the Burlington facility to criticize ICE and demand federal authorities release undocumented immigrants who they say haven’t committed any crimes.
In February, Rep. Seth Moulton visited the facility and made similar claims about conditions and the treatment of immigrants facing deportation proceedings. Moulton, a Salem Democrat, is challenging Sen. Ed Markey in next year’s primary. Markey has also conducted several oversight visits of the ICE facility.
Moulton, Markey and with other members of the state’s all-Democratic congressional delegation have raised similar concerns about detainees sleeping on concrete floors with a lack of access to adequate food and other necessities.
ICE has targeted Massachusetts with several high-profile immigration raids that led to the arrest of nearly 3,000 “illegal aliens” many of which the agency said have criminal records and ties to transnational organized crime and gangs.
ICE has also repeatedly disputed lawmakers’ claims about substandard conditions in Burlington and other ICE detention centers, saying in a recent statement that detainees “are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members.”
But members of the state’s all Democrat congressional delegation have kept up their criticism of ICE’s use of the Burlington facility where people detained on immigration violations are held before being transferred to other locations.
Under federal law, members of Congress can make unannounced oversight visits to immigration facilities that “detain” immigrants. Lawmakers and their staff must request a visit in most cases up to 72 hours in advance, sometimes longer. The press and public are not allowed on such visits.
Some members of Congress claim they have been denied access to ICE facilities as they try to conduct the oversight visits, and some have been involved in high-profile clashes with immigration officials.
A federal judge recently blocked a Trump administration policy requiring advance notice for an official congressional inspection, ruling that lawmakers have a right to make unannounced visits to detention centers.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@northofboston.com