SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Two San Diego congressmen were denied entry during an oversight visit to investigate reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is detaining people in substandard conditions in the basement of the downtown federal courthouse.
Congressmen Juan Vargas and Scott Peters attempted to conduct the oversight visit after receiving calls from concerned community members about the detentions in the basement.
"We got there and we were refused entry but the top person here," Vargas said. "We cannot tell you that the law is being followed, in fact they told us it was and if it is let us go see for ourselves."
ICE has not confirmed or denied any information about what's happening in the basement. Volunteers, who work at the federal courthouse daily assisting people with immigration court hearings or check-ins, say the detentions started about a week and a half ago.
Ruth Mendez, a volunteer with Detention Resistance, described concerning conditions for those being held.
"No showers, throughout the time that they're here, they're forced to wear the same clothes, calling an attorney or family member is incredibly hard," Mendez said.
A woman who requested anonymity told me her niece was detained there for three days last week. The woman said her niece reported seeing about 200 people in the facility with only one toilet, no beds, and meals consisting of frozen burritos and raw potatoes.
Peters questioned why access was denied if proper procedures were being followed.
"If you're obeying the law, if you were following the procedure, you'd want us to see this, you'd want us to see it, like they did in Otay Mesa, we've been there before," Peters said.
In July, Peters and Congresswoman Sara Jacobs toured the Otay Mesa Detention Facility during an oversight visit and found conditions met standards, despite not agreeing with the Trump Administration on how they're handling immigration matters.
"We don't want to make any disruptions, we want to see the facilities, would have taken half an hour for us to see the whole thing, they didn't let us see it," Peters said about Monday's attempted visit..
ABC 10News reached out to ICE multiple times to find out more about what's happening in the building's basement and why the congress members were denied access, but did not receive a response.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
