Ramirez, Durbin, Members of the Illinois Delegation Request Meeting with ICE Field Office Director Russell Hott

Washington, DC-Today, Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03),member of the Homeland Security Committee, Illinois Senator Richard "Dick" Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)and all Democratic members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation requested ICE Field Office Director Russell Hott promptly schedule a meeting with them to discuss pressing matters, including the implementation of "Operation Midway Blitz" and oversight of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Broadview Processing Facility.

The letter comes after members of the Delegation have been barred from conducting oversight at Broadview despite repeated attempts to schedule a visit.

"Oversight of this facility is desperately needed as legal service providers and our constituents have raised concerns about the poor conditions at Broadview. These reports allege unsanitary bathroom facilities; spreading illness; continued overcrowding; detainees sleeping on the floor or in chairs; a lack of access to food, water or hygiene products; restricted communications to family members and attorneys; and an inability to access medication," said the Members.

The request for the meeting comes after Senator Durbin and Representative Ramirez's offices communicated to ICE on September 16, 2025, that Illinois' Delegation Members intended to conduct oversight at Broadview Processing Facility on September 23, 2025. The offices followed ICE's new guidance and gave notice of this visit seven days in advance. ICE, nevertheless, responded that ICE's Enforcement & Removal Operations (ERO) Chicago Office would be unable to support a visit.

Though ICE agreed to a subsequent meeting with Delegation Members in lieu of a visit to the facility on September 26, 2025, ICE has now postponed that meeting to an unconfirmed date in October. ICE continues to bar the Delegation's access to Broadview, despite Congress's inherent authority to conduct oversight of ICE facilities.

In the letter, the members also included a list of questions to be answered by DHS at the forthcoming meeting.

In addition to Ramirez, Durbin and Duckworth, the letter was signed by all Democratic members of the Illinois congressional delegation, including Jonathan Jackson (D-IL-01), Robin Kelly (D-IL-02), Jesús G. "Chuy" García (D-IL-04), Mike Quigley (D-IL-05), Sean Casten (D-IL-06), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Bill Foster (D-IL-11), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13), Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14), and Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17).

Read the full letter HERE.

BACKGROUND:

Members of the Illinois delegation sought to conduct oversight at the Broadview ICE Processing Center in June 2025 and were denied access. The visit was prompted by reports that the center is being unlawfully used, contrary to city and state ordinances, as a detention center, where migrants are being denied access to their attorneys and held in inhumane and unsanitary conditions, sleeping on the floor, and without complete meals. Under appropriations laws and their constitutional oversight authority, Members of Congress have the authority to enter any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain or otherwise house people without advance notice.

The Members who sought access sent a follow-up letter on September 18, 2025, to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons, demanding answers on the conditions, capacity, and basic services for immigrants held at the Broadview ICE Processing Center in Illinois.

On September 23, 2025, led by Senator Durbin, the Illinois Democrats raised concerns about DHS's dangerous, reckless, so-called "Operation Midway Blitz," reprimanding DHS for violating due process, indiscriminately arresting immigrants with no criminal convictions, and escalating tensions at Broadview protests.