A federal judge on Wednesday said President Donald Trump’s administration cannot bar members of Congress from making unannounced visits to immigrant detention facilities. US District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington, DC, said US Department of Homeland Security policies deeming Immigration and Customs Enforcement field offices “off-limits for congressional oversight” and requiring seven days’ notice for visits violated federal law. Cobb blocked the policies DHS adopted in June pending the outcome of a lawsuit by twelve Democratic members of the US House of Representatives. The representatives who sued come from California, Colorado, Maryland, Mississippi, New York and Texas. In a joint statement, they said the decision was a critical step toward restoring congressional oversight.
“Real-time, on-the-ground visits to immigration detention facilities help prevent abuses and ensure transparency,” the lawmakers said. Trump, a Republican, has made a crackdown on legal and illegal immigration a centerpiece of his second term. That has included a mass deportation campaign and the detention of thousands of people awaiting legal proceedings. The Democrats who filed the lawsuit say their unannounced visits, without interference from ICE, remain necessary because detention facilities have often failed to afford basic standards of care.
They said denying such visits amid continued reports of maltreatment, overcrowding and poor sanitation, violates a federal law adopted in 2020 during Trump’s first White House term.
Cobb, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden, agreed on Wednesday, noting that the law explicitly bars ICE from requiring members of Congress “to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility ... for the purpose of conducting oversight.” A number of Democratic elected officials have been arrested for protesting outside of ICE facilities or attempting to enter them. Representative LaMonica McIver, a Democrat from New Jersey, was charged with assault in May after a scuffle during an unannounced visit to a detention center in Newark. McIver has denied wrongdoing and said her prosecution was politically motivated.
US judge says Trump cannot ban lawmakers’ surprise visits to ICE facilities
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US judge says Trump cannot ban lawmakers’ surprise visits to ICE facilities
Man charged after defacing Churchill statue in central London
- Metropolitan Police said Caspar San Giorgio was charged early Saturday, some 24 hours after his arrest
- He had been detained within minutes of officers being alerted to the incident
LONDON: London police said Saturday a man had been charged with criminal damage for defacing a statue of Britain’s World War II prime minister Winston Churchill with pro-Palestinian slogans.
The monument in the central Parliament Square was smeared with red paint early on Friday and “Zionist war criminal” among the slogans written on it.
The Metropolitan Police said Caspar San Giorgio, 38, of no fixed address, was charged early Saturday, some 24 hours after his arrest.
He had been detained within minutes of officers being alerted to the incident, according to the force.
He was due to appear at a London magistrates’ court later Saturday.
The words “free Palestine” and “stop the genocide” were also sprayed on the statue, which workers cleaned off Friday.
The incident prompted Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office to call the damage “completely abhorrent” and commend police for the swift arrest.
“Churchill was a great Briton,” a spokesman said.
The 3.6 meter (12-foot) Churchill statue has been vandalized a number of times in recent years, including during Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion climate demonstrations in 2020.
