\n<\/p>\n
A group of Illinois lawmakers who were denied entry into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s processing facility in suburban Broadview in June returned on Monday, court order in hand, and toured the facility for roughly an hour.<\/p>\n
The U.S. representatives \u2014 Jesus \u201cChuy\u201d Garc\u00eda, Delia Ramirez, Jonathan Jackson and Danny Davis \u2014 said they were troubled by the conditions they saw in the facility, which has been the setting for heated protests as federal agents conducted immigration arrests across the area under \u201cOperation Midway Blitz.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawmakers said ICE expects immigration arrests to ramp up in the near future. While the facility only had two detainees on Monday, they said ICE anticipates increasing staffing at the facility with 85 additional agents. Eight-five other agents may also soon be added to ICE\u2019s administrative field office in downtown Chicago, they said.<\/p>\n
The politicians are not the first ones to tour the facility. U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood toured the facility in November<\/a>, when an ICE official had also warned her about planned increased staffing. The Sun-Times has previously reported that 1,000 federal agents could be back by March.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe came to see the conditions with our own eyes and we came to ask questions directly,\u201d Garc\u00eda said. \u201cWe came to ensure that people in government custody are treated with basic dignity and humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n Garcia stressed that the type of surveillance, like face-scanning and fingerprint technology, that is being used to approach and detain those being targeted \u201cshould be chilling to every American who cares about the constitution and rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n Garcia said ICE officials tried to distance themselves from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, which has been operating under Commander At Large Gregory Bovino, arresting people in the streets.<\/p>\n ICE officials \u201cthink that their protocols are better than\u201d Border Patrol\u2019s, Garcia said.<\/p>\n Ramirez, who is on the Department of Homeland Security oversight committee, criticized the facility for holding people overnight, even though it is not designed to.<\/p>\n A staff member in the building told lawmakers there were \u201cat least over 150 detainees\u201d at the height of immigration enforcement campaign, even though the building has a capacity of 125, Ramirez said.<\/p>\n \u201cImagine 150 people in a facility with four detention space cells. Three bathrooms for 80 people. No privacy whatsoever,\u201d Ramirez said. <\/p>\n Jackson said he saw a \u201cvery frightened man\u201d who was detained Monday morning and was a constituent of Rep. Ramirez. Lawmakers added that no medical or mental health personnel were on site. <\/p>\n There were also four storage bins full of personal belongings, a sign that read \u201cno aliens beyond this point\u201d and a signed picture of United States Security of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, according to the Illinois representatives.<\/p>\n Garcia insisted that the group\u2019s visit was only the beginning of their mission for transparency.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will be back, and we\u2019ll demand answers,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n