BALTIMORE, Md. — Maryland Congressional Delegation Democrats say they were denied access to the Federal ICE holding facility in Baltimore.
Congressman Kweisi Mfume, Senator Chris Van Hollen, Senator Angela Alsobrooks, Representative Glenn Ivey, Representative Johnny Olszewski, Jr., and Representative Sarah Elfreth say they were prevented from conducting an oversight visit Monday at the George H. Fallon Federal Building in downtown Baltimore.
I joined Team Maryland in conducting oversight on the ICE facility in Baltimore.
— Senator Angela Alsobrooks (@Sen_Alsobrooks) July 28, 2025
We were denied entry.
The fear we are all feeling will pass, but the shame that our country will carry as a result of this conduct, will last generations. pic.twitter.com/xKLXrSwYxR
"This visit was part of our collective oversight responsibility to ensure ICE is treating detainees humanely and operating within the bounds of federal law," said the members in a collective statement.
Members of Congress are legally allowed to access federal holding facilities under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024. The act stipulates members of Congress cannot be prevented from entering any Department of Homeland Security facility, used to detain those captured by ICE, for oversight purposes.
According to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, prior notice is not required for members of Congress to enter these facilities.
"We were exercising our legal authority as Members of Congress to inspect the Baltimore federal holding facility, and, if necessary, speak directly with detainees. What happened today was yet another example of Donald Trump and his Administration's deliberate, dangerous pattern of preventing congressional oversight and hiding the truth from the American people."
Maryland Representative Andy Harris (R) posted on X, "These Maryland lawmakers didn't lift a finger to stop illegal immigrants and MS-13 gangs from pouring into our state, but now they're staging a 'sit-in'..."
In another post, he said, "Maryland Democrats: Never on the side of law and order— always on the side of illegals."
They won’t sit at the border to stop criminal illegals from coming in—but they’ll sit outside ICE to keep them from going out.
— Rep. Andy Harris, MD (@RepAndyHarrisMD) July 28, 2025
Maryland Democrats: Never on the side of law and order—always on the side of illegals. https://t.co/4lYL8p7dwd
In April, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador for two days to see Kimlar Abrego Garcia. He's the Maryland father deported to El Salvador earlier this year, violating a 2019 order that should have shielded him from being deported to El Salvador.
Just last week, a judge ordered Abrego Garcia be brought back to Maryland and given the federal supervision he previously had, allowing him to live and work in Maryland.
U.S. officials have argued that Abrego Garcia can be deported because he came to the U.S. illegally around 2011.
