Minnesota Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, along with her colleague Angie Craig, was removed from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Minneapolis on Saturday. They had visited the Whipple Building, as part of their oversight responsibilities as Congress members, only to be asked to leave due to new rules set by the Trump administration regarding such visits.
Omar explained to reporters that they were initially invited to perform their congressional duties. “We entered with permission from someone who has a long history there, who recognized it was our responsibility to inspect the facilities,” she commented. However, soon after their entry, they were told by officials that their invitation had been revoked and they would no longer be allowed access.
On the same day, the Trump administration imposed new rules requiring lawmakers to give at least a week’s notice prior to visiting an ICE facility. This was actually the administration’s second attempt at implementing such a rule, following a prior rejection by a federal judge of a similar request from the Department of Homeland Security. Kristi Noem pointed out that federal spending laws mandate lawmakers to have unrestricted access to facilities receiving federal funds.
Omar noted that they had been able to inquire about detainee hygiene and other issues while inside, describing the responses as “insane.” She expressed concern that authorities were not properly considering the duration of time that detainees spent in the facility.
Federal officials claimed that the new directive is in line with federal law because the facility operates under the Big Beautiful Act rather than Congressional funding. DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that Omar and her colleagues had entered the facility with the intent of ‘hunting down’ ICE agents believed to be present.
In her statement, McLaughlin emphasized that the decision to remove them was based on safety measures for both detainees and staff. “Their visit did not comply with established court orders and agency policies requiring a notification period of at least seven days,” she asserted.
