Holding Power Accountable

Floor Speech

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Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, last week, I joined Representative Chuy Garcia, Representative Jonathan Jackson, and Representative Danny Davis at the ICE Processing Center in Broadview to investigate ICE's inhumane and unlawful detention of immigrant families and our constituents.

The visit to the processing center comes after credible reports that the center is being used to unlawfully detain immigrants, contrary to city and State ordinances, including constituents of the Members who sought entry.

The reports suggest that constituents are being housed in the processing center for prolonged periods of time without access to their medication, to legal counsel, or even basic necessities.

Let me be very clear. Just because something isn't named a detention facility doesn't mean this administration isn't going to use it as one. If people are detained there, it is a detention facility, period.

As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, I came to the ICE Processing Center in Broadview to fulfill my congressional oversight authority granted under appropriation laws.

Under the law, Members of Congress have the authority to enter any facility operated by the Department of Homeland Security used to detain people. Whether the facility is formally identified as a detention facility is irrelevant.

The operational capacity of agents and staff at the facility is also irrelevant when it comes to allowing access to Members of Congress. It is the role of Congress to provide oversight.

Let me say that loud and clear for any of my colleagues that are here and that perhaps have forgotten that. It is the role of Congress to provide oversight. I suggest Kristi Noem and DHS staff read section 527(a) of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2024, which is Public Law 118-47.

Am I shocked? Let me be honest. I am not shocked. We were illegally denied entry. While we weren't surprised, it was pretty disrespectful for Members of Congress to not be able to do their job.

I want my colleagues to visualize this. There are four Members of Congress, all of them showing their ID. In addition to wearing their congressional pins, they are identifying themselves.

We ring the doorbell, and we are waiting for about 45 minutes. We wait to gain entry into the facility where no one comes to the door at any given time. No one responds through the intercom. The cameras demonstrate someone is watching us.

We are waiting there to do the job that we were called to do by law which is to conduct unannounced oversight. When we finally get acknowledged--which, by the way, it meant I saw unmarked cars going in and out of the side gate--as we walked through, we were talking to someone who was unwilling to identify themselves through a little hole through the gate.

He refused to identify himself. When we told him we were there, do you know what he said, Mr. Speaker?

``Given guidance by my superiors, I am told that you should send an e-mail to DHS.gov.''

He told four Members of Congress, including a Member of Congress who is the Member of Congress in that jurisdiction of where that holding center is: ``Just send an email.''

Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure that people understand. We have sent emails, and we have sent letters. I want to make sure that the American people understand what is happening to us.

We have sent emails, and we have sent letters. We have challenged the illegal, unconstitutional actions of this authoritarian government, and we have not received any responses.

It is our job as Members of Congress to provide accountability and oversight of activities of the executive branch. Activities that, by the way, this Chamber right here funds through appropriations. Activities that we authorize, or do not, through lawmaking, which is our constitutional role.

My favorite part of our interaction that day--1\1/2\ hours of our time outside waiting to be seen--was the sign that staff from the holding center placed on the door which reflects ICE's formal response to our visit.

Mr. Speaker, let me tell you what the sign said:

``ICE field offices are not detention facilities and fall outside of the section 527 requirements.

``When planning to visit an ICE facility, ICE asks for requests to be submitted at least 72 hours in advance. Visit requests should be submitted during business hours to the Office of Congressional Relations, (OCR) at CongresstoICE@ice.dhs.gov. Visit requests are not considered actionable until receipt of the request is acknowledged by OCR to the requestor.

``ICE does not house aliens at these locations, rather these are working offices where ERO personnel process aliens to make custody determinations based on the specific circumstances of each case. Aliens determined to require detention are transferred to an ICE detention facility pending removal or the outcome of their removal proceedings. Due to our high operations tempo, we are not facilitating any visits to ICE field offices or suboffices at this time.''

Mr. Speaker, is that unbelievable? Maybe it is.

Actually, it is believable because given Noem's disregard for Congress and the rule of law, this is what they do.

Mr. Speaker, do you know who makes the laws that govern the DHS facilities? Do you know who makes the laws, Mr. Speaker? It is Congress.

Mr. Speaker, do you know who doesn't get to just change the rules when they decide? It is DHS.

Mr. Speaker, do you know what is not a valid consideration for denying illegally required oversight? Your operations tempo.

You see, Mr. Speaker, as a result of our visit and the visits of Members that they have conducted in New Jersey, California, New York, and Illinois last week, ICE issued new guidance that unlawfully restricts Members of Congress to access ICE facilities.

Mr. Speaker, you heard me right. They decided that they were going to issue new guidance to go above Congress and further put a policy in place that is against the law.

Two days ago, Ranking Member Bennie Thompson, Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, Subcommittee Ranking Member Lou Correa, and subcommittee Ranking Member Pramila Jayapal, affirmed that Kristi Noem, DHS, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are illegally obstructing congressional oversight by denying Members of Congress access to multiple facilities used to detain immigrants in recent weeks.

Tonight, over the next 45 minutes or so, I will be here with my colleagues talking to the American people about what is happening, and what we are hearing directly from them. My colleagues and I will discuss how we will continue to assert congressional authority, even if Kristi Noem, even if Stephen Miller, and even if RFK and everyone else in that Cabinet attempts to obstruct us from doing our congressional work of congressional authority and legislative action.

I will yield to my colleagues who will share how they have attempted to provide oversight despite this hostile administration's lack of respect for Congress as a coequal branch of government and how we are actively defending our communities against this authoritarian agenda.

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Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congressman for his comments. That is democracy. Today we are talking about how we preserve democracy under the circumstances that we are living in.

Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mrs. Ramirez for convening this very important discussion.

I will talk about something that is a little bit of an extension of this, but I do want to remind people that I visited Delaney Hall Detention Facility in the State of New Jersey with LaMonica McIver and Rob Menendez. It was difficult getting anyone to address us and give us the kind of inspection and respect that our offices deserved.

The suggestion that Members now should have to make an appointment before inspecting one of these facilities defeats the notion of oversight. Oversight is to catch the operation going as it is. Oversight is to see if the conditions are humane, the food is delivered, and that people are treated well, et cetera.

It is insane that this administration could think that they could put this condition upon us.

I will talk about what I consider is a further extension that this administration is out of control. What we have seen in recent weeks in L.A. and over the past few months across the country is another illustration of an outrageous abuse of power by our President and his Cabinet.

President Trump, Deputy Chief of Staff Miller, and Secretary of Homeland Security Noem have gone too far, letting their hatred of immigrants overwhelm them to the point of abusing innocent Americans.

Their actions pose a threat to all of us. They have disregarded the rights of citizens and noncitizens alike.

In just the last few months, DHS has accused a U.S. citizen of entering the country illegally and held that person for days, despite the person showing his birth certificate and Social Security card.

A U.S. Army Purple Heart veteran who has lived in the U.S. for nearly 50 years was told to leave due to a 15-year-old minor drug conviction.

In Newark in January, ICE detained a veteran without a warrant, disregarding his veteran ID card.

A 10-year-old U.S. citizen with brain cancer was deported because his parents were undocumented.

Trump's actions tell us that no one is safe from his storm troopers. How ICE agents are going about fulfilling Trump's arbitrary arrest quotas is also alarming.

Masked, plainclothes officers have been entering communities and abducting people to process them for deportation. This is extremely dangerous for several reasons. The first is the risk of confusion for those being detained and arrested, as well as for bystanders.

Think about what you might do if you witnessed three to four men in street clothes grabbing someone off the street and throwing them in the back of a black SUV. It doesn't take much imagination to see the danger involved if a Good Samaritan were to intervene.

Additionally, the lack of clearly identifiable uniforms has made it easier for copycats and impersonators to purchase fake gear on Amazon, allowing them to go around neighborhoods harassing residents. We have already seen this happening.

In response, I introduced a piece of legislation, the ICE Visibility Act, to eliminate this confusion and increase safety in our communities by requiring ICE officers to wear visible and distinct uniforms at all times.

This administration is creating chaos and confusion on our streets and infringing on the freedoms and the liberties of Americans.

This bill that I am introducing obviously won't solve the problem of a runaway ICE that puts arrest quotas over the rights of our communities, but it might just prevent a disaster that is waiting to happen.

This illustration of governance abuse, about rogue ICE agents, about disrespect at detention facilities, and about the poor quality of those facilities means that our work is vitally important to the well-being and the safety and security of those who are in our country and those who are being detained here for whatever reason.

I thank the gentlewoman for this opportunity to speak to this issue.

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Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman for her leadership, for her integrity, and for her principled leadership in times such as this. We are so grateful for her.
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Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congressman for his words.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know about Congressman Johnson, but perhaps in Georgia or in other parts of the country this may be happening. I have not met a constituent who has told me, ``Congresswoman Ramirez, I wake up in the morning asking how my life could be better,'' and then answer that immediately by saying, ``Do you know how my life would be better? If the President of the United States of America had a $450 million new plane that had been donated from a foreign country.''

I have never heard a constituent tell me when I have asked them what the most important thing is for them right now: ``Do you know what the most important thing is for me? It is for Kristi Noem to get $50 million more in the budget. By the way, cut my Medicaid, groceries, and SNAP benefits because what I really want is for this person who was never elected to get an upgrade on a plane. Make sure that you dedicate $50 million of taxpayer dollars so that she can have a brand-new plane so that she can cosplay wherever the hell she is going.''

I have never heard that. I hear the gentleman. I am curious. What Members of Congress have heard from their constituents--perhaps in Louisiana or other parts of the country--that what they care most about is that we cut their healthcare and cut SNAP benefits and that we make it harder for them to age in place or retire with dignity because their number one priority is to take their taxpayer dollars to ensure that the President becomes even richer and that she gets more costumes to wear around the country?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his work and courageous leadership.

Something the gentleman said was that our constituents didn't send us here to make sure that the rich get richer. Our constituents didn't send us here so that the President can become even richer by selling off coins or offering people to be able to come to the White House, which taxpayers pay for, and have dinner with him if they invest more on his coins.

Our constituents said: ``The rent is too darn high. I can't buy a house. I have to choose between going to the doctor and buying groceries. I don't know if I could afford the car payment and tuition for my son or daughter in college. This darn job I have, it is so difficult to make sure that I can cover the costs, so I have to work a second job. What are you going to do about it?''

That is why I am so grateful that we are here having a conversation about what the job of Members of Congress is: to make the lives of their constituents better.

It is not to make Donald Trump's life better, not to make Kristi Noem's life better or richer, but to make their lives better.

One of the other things that we should be doing as Members of Congress is affirming that we are a coequal branch of government, the thing that I ask eighth graders about in their Constitution tests all around the country.

Part of that work is oversight, but it is ridiculous and infuriating to me that my Republican colleagues, who continue to obstruct oversight every chance that the majority can, don't seem to agree. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem to think that who got them elected, who they serve, that the only people who matter are not the 730,000 constituents that they have but Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, and Elon Musk, as long as he and Donald Trump are getting along and paying for elections.

Congress' power is critical in this moment. Congressman Johnson said it so beautifully. We have to do everything in our power to ensure that our constituents know who we are here for. Otherwise, we can't be the people's House.

Congress' powers are established to be a check on an out-of-control, lawless executive branch like the Trump administration. For instance, when the executive branch decides to use a notorious offshore prison with a history of gross human rights violations as a staging location for mass deportations without due process and in violation of international law, I thought that would be an ideal time for Congress to conduct oversight.

It is why I requested that the Committee on Homeland Security, that some of us here serve on, would conduct an official oversight visit to CECOT.

I was of the opinion that a congressional delegation needed to urgently go to CECOT in El Salvador and check on the health and well- being of all the political prisoners who we have sent to that heinous place.

My Republican colleagues disagreed, and Chairman Mark Green said that my official request to conduct oversight in my capacity as a member of the Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability was ``to virtue signal to [my] radical base.''

At least he responded to that one. When I asked him to conduct oversight of Guantanamo, after the first flights to Guantanamo separated undocumented immigrants from the protections of our Constitution and their due process, and even amidst the reports that the U.S. was spending more than $40 million of taxpayer money holding migrants in Guantanamo, in that case, I was just ignored. I didn't expect much more.

Republicans in Congress have repeatedly given up their power. I don't know why. They got elected by the people to represent the people, but they are just rolling out the red carpet for Trump's authoritarian regime. Republicans in Congress have allowed Trump to literally walk all over them. They are enabling a massive expansion in Presidential power and completely surrendering the power and authority of Congress.

If they don't want to actually assert their authority as a coequal branch, then why are you here? In allowing the administration to rescind funds, freeze funds, and cancel grants and contracts that were duly appropriated by Congress, Republicans have given Trump the power of the purse. But the power of the purse is Congress' power. It is our job. It is what we were sent to administer for the people. They have abandoned a critical check and balance.

Republicans have become the enablers of Trump's authoritarian power grab, and you don't have to look farther than the Speaker of the House. He was quoted yesterday saying: ``Many respected constitutional experts argue that the War Powers Act is itself unconstitutional.

``I'm persuaded by that argument. They think it's a violation of the Article II Powers of the Commander in Chief. I think that's right.''

That is the leader of Congress saying that Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, which gives Congress the constitutional authority to declare war, is a violation of Article II Powers of the President.

That tells you all you need to know. Mike Johnson is more loyal to the President than he is to the separation of powers. He is more loyal to the administration's authoritarian agenda than he is to the Constitution. He is certainly more loyal to this President than his constituents who depend on Medicaid and Social Security for their daily life needs.

We will remind them that Congress has a job to do and that we will not concede the power of the people.

I ask my colleagues, again: Why did you come here?

They made a lot of campaign promises. Perhaps while you are campaigning you actually listen to some people. Perhaps what they heard from people was, we are tired of a government that doesn't deliver to the people. Make my life better, not worse.

Yet, somehow, we are waiting for a Senate bill, this big, ugly bill, as if it couldn't get any uglier, that would actually slash more resources from the very same people that sent us here instead of making their life better.

Mr. Speaker, we have to ask ourselves in this moment what role are we playing and who are we here for? Did we take an oath to protect the Constitution of the United States of America or not?

Is our loyalty to the values of this country and the people that sent us here? I hope it is not to super-PACs, but rather the people, our constituents.

Or is it doing whatever Donald Trump tells you to do?

This is a critical moment in U.S. history. I will highlight, as I wrap up my Special Order hour, a few people that despite the darkness, despite the stoking of fear that you see happening throughout the country, continue to demonstrate who we are and who we should be as a Nation.

I will start by recognizing someone who I believe to be a leader in the community. He is someone who I know stands up by defending our neighbors. He is someone who recognizes that fear does not create unity and love. Fear creates division. As we reflect on what it means to stand up to authoritarianism by defending our neighbors, our neighborhoods, and our culture, I recognize a longtime community leader and a public servant, Billy Ocasio.

Billy was born and raised in Humboldt Park in Illinois' Third Congressional District. Billy's leadership over several decades has made a significant impact in Chicago, Illinois, and its local Puerto Rican and immigrant community.

A proud product of Chicago Public Schools, Billy graduated from Von Humboldt Elementary School and Roberto Clemente Community Academy.

Rooted in the community that raised him, Billy served as the 26th Ward alderman for 16 years, from 1993 to 2009, where he championed major infrastructure and community development projects, including the creation of Division Street's signature Puerto Rican flags, the McCormick Tribune YMCA, and Humboldt Parks' first-ever public library branch.

Billy's service expanded as he became senior adviser to then-Governor Pat Quinn, as he was appointed to work on social justice issues impacting communities across the State of Illinois.

Both Billy and his wife, Veronica Ocasio, have lent their talents and time to creating and growing the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, also based in Humboldt Park. In Billy's role as president and CEO, as well as in Veronica's role as director of education and programming, the Ocasios have nurtured the museum to become a locally, nationally, and internationally celebrated institution.

Through exhibits, events, oral history sharing, and more, the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture does important work to preserve and uplift the rich culture of Puerto Rican traditions and to stand up to gentrification through cultural resistance.

On behalf of Illinois' Third Congressional District, I commend Billy Ocasio for his lifetime of service and commitment to fighting for our communities. At a time when wannabe kings threaten welcoming cities like Chicago, I am inspired by the stories of local residents demonstrating that diversity, that equity, that inclusion which are exactly what make our communities and our country strong.

In a time such as this, we need to summon the courage of those who came before us to unapologetically and defiantly defend immigrants from the administration's authoritarian attacks. History presents us with plenty of inspiration. In some cases, it is someone who made it possible for the grandparents of so many of my colleagues to be able to serve in this very same Chamber.

Today, I honor the legacy of Sister Frances Xavier Cabrini, better known as Mother Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants, whose life and legacy remind us of the enduring strength and dignity immigrants in America have.

Born in 1850 in Lombardy, Italy, Frances Cabrini arrived in the United States in 1889 to New York, at the invitation of Pope Leo XIII, who encouraged her to bring her mission to the growing number of Italian immigrants in the Americas.

At the time, Italian Americans were targets of xenophobia, discrimination, and even violence, just like other immigrants living in the United States at the time and today.

Italians were wrongfully seen as unable to assimilate, dangerous, and a threat to the American way of life, language which is also, unfortunately, still familiar today.

Yet in the face of this hateful, dehumanizing rhetoric, Mother Cabrini responded not with fear or hatred--what our President wants-- but with bold, unwavering love and compassion.

As the founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she built a movement grounded in hope, service, faith, and fierce love for those under attack by those in positions of power.

Under her leadership, the Sisters established more than 60 schools, hospitals, and orphanages, many of them serving newly arriving immigrants, the sick, and the poor.

In 1909, Mother Cabrini became a naturalized citizen of the United States. She believed in the promise of this Nation--not as an abstract ideal, but as a place where those seeking refuge and opportunity could find dignity, community, and purpose. At a time when her own community, the Italian community, was under attack, she chose to claim her place in this country, not as an outsider, but as a full participant in shaping its future.

Her naturalization is particularly worth reflecting on today, when President Trump seeks to roll back the hard-won rights of immigrants, especially the right to birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed under the 14th Amendment of our Constitution.

President Trump has repeatedly questioned this right, threatening to unravel one of the most fundamental principles of American democracy: that all who are born here belong here.

In 1946, Mother Cabrini was canonized as a saint by Pope Pius XII, becoming the first American to be beatified by the Catholic Church. She is now recognized as the patron saint of immigrants, a title that honors her tireless advocacy for all those who migrate and her unwavering belief in the sacred dignity of every single human life.

In Chicago, many know her from the former Cabrini-Green public housing development, which stood as a symbol both of the challenges of poverty and segregation, and of the enduring hope of working families seeking a better life. Her name endures in our memory because her legacy endures.

As we close out Immigrant Heritage Month, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini challenges us to stand up to those in power who would seek to divide us and pit us against our own neighbors.

Despite those who seek to use their faith to justify their cruelty, we remember that the Bible itself teaches us that: ``When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as you love yourself.''

For my colleagues who say they read the Bible every day, that is Leviticus 19:33-34.

In a time of rising nationalism, expansion of imperialism, and fear, may the example of Sister Cabrini guide us back to fierce, compassionate, inclusive love.

May her memory inspire us to build a nation where everyone feels a deep sense of belonging, where every person's humanity is honored, and where we truly love our neighbors as ourselves.

May she inspire us to build an empire, as she says, of hope, solidarity, and compassion.

As I close, I am reminded of the words of Mother Cabrini. I thank all of my colleagues who have joined today's Special Order on Holding Power Accountable: Congressional Oversight against Trump's Authoritarianism.

Members of Congress are actively defending our communities against this agenda, and we will continue to show up.

To the constituents who are worried about their Medicaid, to the constituents who are worried about their neighbors, to the constituents who are asking themselves: How can the President say one thing and do the other? How can he talk about peace and go start a war? How can he say that he is a Christian and hate his neighbors? I want you to know that not all Members of Congress here are the same.

Some of us have the courage, the ability, and the willingness to defend our communities, regardless of their legal status, regardless of who they love, regardless of their financial status.

We believe in due process. We believe in the rule of law and the Constitution, and I think that some of my colleagues on the other side took an oath saying that they believe in it, too. We believe in our democracy and checks and balances and accountability. We believe that undermining our laws and processes make all of us less safe.

We continue to demand that this administration allow us to exercise our right to oversight in all of its forms. I ask my colleagues, as I wrap up, the question that I asked before: Why did you come here? Why are you here? Why do you leave your family every Monday or Tuesday to get on a flight and be here for 4 to 5 days? What will your legacy be? What will your grandchildren say about what you did in this place?

I know what Mother Cabrini did in a time where Italians were treated as less than human. She stood up for them. She made it possible so that your grandparents and your great-grandparents could be able to give your parents and your families the life that they deserve so that you can serve here in Congress with me.

What will your legacy be? If you are wondering why constituents don't believe in government, it is because we say one thing, and then harm them. I believe that this is a moment where we can choose to love, to choose compassion, to choose unity over hate, over darkness, or over using Truth Social to demean and degrade other people because we don't agree with them.

I say to you that as long as Members of Congress, like Congressmen Johnson, Takano, Watson Coleman, Carter, and I are here, we continue to demand that this administration honor due process, that we continue to do congressional oversight--especially in ICE facilities and detention centers, and that we ensure that people being held there are treated humanly, with dignity and respect. We are not alone.

The American people will continue to protest for their rights. The American people will continue to show up. The American people will continue to demand more of us, not less of us. They will continue to demand that we protect and expand democracy, not suppress voters.

We say and continue to say that it is our responsibility for such a time as this to be reminded why we decided to come to the people's House, and who we represent and who we serve because I do not represent or serve at the pleasure of Donald Trump. I serve and represent 730,000 people in the Chicago area, and I will fight for them every single day and the democracy that we all took an oath to protect and serve.

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