Stanton wants to join lawsuit against ICE over detention center visits

Arizona Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton wants to join a lawsuit challenging a new Department of Homeland Security policy that requires prior notice for visits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities after he was denied entry over the rule.

On July 25, Stanton made the trek to ICE’s Eloy Detention Center, which is operated by private prison group CoreCivic. He planned to meet with Kelly Yu, a detainee and restaurant owner in Peoria, and conduct oversight in accordance with his congressional duties. But like so many other members of Congress conducting oversight visits, Stanton was turned away.

Despite federal law saying otherwise, Stanton was told that he could enter only after providing the facility with seven days’ notice that he was planning to visit, negating the point of a surprise inspection. A little over a week later, after providing that notice and securing approval to visit, Stanton returned to the facility. On Tuesday, he was given a nearly five-hour tour and met with Yu and 20 other detainees.

Still, Stanton said he shouldn’t have had to provide a heads-up. “For obvious reasons,” he said, he wanted to go in without prior notice so his visit could be “as accurate as possible” and “not curated.”

“This is not an optional thing,” Stanton told Phoenix New Times. “Federal law is clear that Congress members have a right to do oversight over this facility without having to get prior notice.”

Stanton isn’t alone in his concern over the DHS rule.

Five days after Stanton was first denied entry, a dozen members of the House of Representatives sued ICE, DHS and the heads of both agencies over their “unlawful obstruction of congressional oversight” and the seven-day waiting period policy. Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse, who was denied entry to an ICE field office in Virginia in late July, is leading the lawsuit. Other plaintiffs hail from Texas, New York, California, Maryland and Mississippi.

Neither Stanton nor any other Arizona Democrat is party to the suit. But Stanton told New Times that he wants in — either through a court brief, joining the case as an additional plaintiff or by some other means.

“I don’t know what form that’s going to take. I hope they’ll let us join that lawsuit,” Stanton said. “It’s important that we get a court order making that absolutely clear so that the administration changes its policy and it does follow federal law.”

Melissa Schwartz, a spokesperson for Democracy Forward, which is leading the case, declined to comment to New Times. Arizona’s  Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego have not said whether they want to join the lawsuit.

At a Phoenix town hall on Sunday, Democratic Rep. Yassamin Ansari said that she supports the litigation, calling it “the right thing to do.” However, an Ansari spokesperson said the congresswoman cannot join the lawsuit. At the town hall, Ansari notably emphasized that the suit was filed by lawmakers who were “outright denied.” By contrast, Ansari toured the Eloy facility in May — without giving notice — and was barred from meeting with specific detainees on a subsequent visit but not prevented from entering.

Kelly also toured the Eloy facility on Thursday. He met with Yu and Maria Pelaez, the mother of an active-duty Marine. “Arizonans deserve real solutions to our broken border and immigration system,” Kelly wrote in a press release, “not what I saw today, which was ripping families and communities apart.”

It’s unclear if Kelly provided the facility with a seven-day warning of his visit. His office did not respond to a request for comment.