An upstate congressmember was blocked this week from inspecting an immigration detention facility outside of Buffalo, the latest in a pattern of Department of Homeland Security officials blocking oversight visits.
U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko said he traveled to the jail complex in Batavia to check on residents of his Capital Region district who he believed were being held there. Federal law allows for members of Congress to visit detention facilities without any prior notice.
The Democrat posted a video on Instagram on Wednesday with the facility’s guard gate in the background. It showed him waving a copy of a June DHS inspector general’s report that found the facility’s medical team was understaffed as well as instances where guards used force improperly.
“The results of this report provide further justification and urgency for an unannounced visit and congressional oversight,” Tonko said. “Yet still, I was denied entry. That is upsetting not only to me, but I think to the entire Congress.”
Representatives from Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as the Department of Homeland Security haven’t returned an email Thursday seeking comment. Congressional aides said they believed it was the first unannounced inspection attempt at the facility this year.
The increased desire for oversight is happening as President Donald Trump’s administration has increased immigration detention around the country. Democrats have complained that detained immigrants are being held in substandard conditions.
And DHS’s denial of access to Tonko came after a dozen other members of Congress sued DHS over its refusal to allow inspections. Plaintiffs in the suit include Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat of New York City.
Goldman last week was denied entry to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. He and Espaillat were previously rebuffed while trying to inspect holding areas of 26 Federal Plaza, a lower Manhattan building where ICE has detained immigrants who attend scheduled court appearances in the office building.
“The American people deserve a government that tells the truth, follows the law, and does not cover up abuse,” Goldman said in a statement.
The members who are suing DHS said in court papers that starting in 2019, appropriations bills included explicit rights to inspect detention facilities. The bills were signed into law by Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Current law states that the department can’t use public funds to prevent members of Congress from conducting oversight inspections. The statute says congressional employees may be required to provide 24 hours of advanced notice, but members themselves are exempted from that requirement.
ICE officials have said a new rule requires a seven-day waiting period for inspections. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the Associated Press that “members of Congress could have just scheduled a tour; instead, they’re running to court to drive clicks and fundraising emails.”
Rep. Tim Kennedy, a Democrat from Buffalo, toured the Batavia facility in June of 2024, according to a senior adviser. The complex is in the district of U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney, a Republican from Oswego County. Her spokesperson didn’t return an email seeking comment.
Tonko said he found parts of the inspector general’s report on the facility “deeply concerning.” Inspectors found that jailors didn’t follow procedures regarding the use of force on eight detainees who were engaged in a hunger strike. They also inappropriately used pepper spray on a detainee who refused to put his hands in a designated area so they could be unshackled.
ICE said in comments to the report that the facility updated its policy on use of force. The document now requires video recording when de-escalation techniques include verbal commands by a supervisor. ICE personnel are trained annually on de-escalation tactics, the report said.
Tonko said the high-profile raids, coupled with the findings of the report, were cause for concern.
“I think this is a very detrimental situation, one that really frightens people,” he said. “It's a critical issue and I think it needs government scrutiny.”
