ICE defends blocking Maryland Dems from detention center, says they support dangerous migrants

Jeff Barker, Baltimore Sun on Jul 29, 2025

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The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency on Tuesday sharply defended its decision to block Maryland members of Congress from inspecting a Baltimore detention facility and said the lawmakers are supporting migrants who “put our Maryland communities at risk.”

ICE’s response further escalated tension between Maryland Democrats and the Republican Trump administration, particularly over immigration issues.

On Monday, six Democratic members of Maryland’s congressional delegation — including Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks — were denied permission to inspect conditions at the holding facility inside the Fallon Federal Building in Baltimore. The members sat on the floor in a corridor outside the door before unsuccessfully pleading their case to Nikita Baker, the acting field office director.

ICE, responding to The Baltimore Sun’s questions, said in a statement Tuesday that the members “were turned away for the safety and security of all personnel, as well as the safety of aliens currently in ICE custody.”

The statement said the lawmakers — including Reps. Kweisi Mfume, of Baltimore; Johnny Olszewski Jr., of Baltimore County; Sarah Elfreth, of Anne Arundel County; and Glenn Ivey, of Prince George’s County — had not provided advance notification of their visit.

“Secretary (Kristi) Noem has made it very clear that U.S. lawmakers are to provide advanced notice before visiting ICE detention centers and processing facilities. Yesterday in Baltimore, lawmakers arrived at the ICE field office without advanced notification and were turned away,” ICE’s statement said.

The members did inform ICE in a July 21 letter of their intention to visit, according to a copy of the letter.

The letter, to Noem and Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, did not specify when the visit would occur. But the lawmakers — citing a 2024 federal law covering detention facility entries — said in the letter that they are permitted to arrive unannounced “for the purpose of conducting oversight.”

The Baltimore facility is the one in which Kilmar Abrego Garcia was detained until being mistakenly deported to his native El Salvador in March. Congressional Democrats have seized upon the Prince George’s County sheet metal worker’s case as an example of the administration’s lawlessness and callousness towards immigrants’ rights. The administration has called Abrego Garcia a gang member and human trafficker who should not be set free in the United States.

ICE’s statement on Tuesday singled out Alsobrooks, the first-term senator, for criticism.

“Ironically, many of these criminal aliens are arrested in sanctuary jurisdictions like Prince George’s County — where Alsobrooks once served as State’s Attorney and County Executive — notorious for refusing to honor ICE immigration detainers,” it said. “Her former office’s track record of releasing dangerous aliens back into her community speaks volumes. Instead of standing with victims and backing law enforcement, Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen, along with Congressman Mfume, choose to support those that put our Maryland communities at risk.”

As county executive, Alsobrooks declined to enter into an agreement with ICE. “While she strongly supports local law enforcement collaborating with federal agencies to address and remove all gang members and violent criminals from the community, she firmly believes that local law enforcement should not be involved in routine enforcement of a person’s immigration status,” her Senate campaign wrote in 2024.

Alsobrooks could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

She said after being turned away from the facility on Monday that “it was abundantly clear that the people working in this facility have been instructed to hide the horror of the inhumane treatment of the people in their custody. And the man behind it all — Donald Trump — clearly does not care about any of us.”

In May, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement “reminding” Congress members and staff that they “need to comply with facility rules, procedures, and instructions from ICE personnel on site for their own safety, the safety of the detainees, and the safety of ICE employees.”

The directive followed the indictment of Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey over a physical altercation with an ICE agent at a detention facility in May. She pleaded not guilty.

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