Hickenlooper Statement After Being Denied Access to Hudson ICE Facility During Oversight Visit

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper released the following statement after being denied access to a new ICE detention center in Hudson as he attempted to conduct an oversight visit.

"Congress has a responsibility to know what's happening inside these facilities, and you deserve to know as well," said Hickenlooper. "We tried to conduct congressional oversight - they said no. When we showed up anyway, they refused to let us in. The facility is not open yet, but if it does, we will be back. We won't stop demanding answers and fighting to hold ICE accountable."

After ICE denied Senator Hickenlooper access to the facility today, he released the following video raising concerns about the detention center.

Watch Hickenlooper's video on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube

In February 2026, Hickenlooper wrote a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem demanding the agency abandon its plan to open the new ICE detention facility in Hudson.

Hickenlooper has been outspoken in the face of ICE's lawlessness and demanded a top-to-bottom overhaul of the agency to stop ICE from terrorizing our communities. Hickenlooper also voted against the DHS funding bill because it failed to overhaul ICE. He has consistently pushed for more oversight andtransparency for federal immigration enforcement efforts, and has worked to help families desperately searching for loved ones arrested by ICE. In January, Hickenlooper spoke on the Senate floor to denounce the horrifying killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, condemn the reports that families in Eagle County found "Death cards" left in the cars of family members taken by ICE agents, and to demand the overhaul of ICE. He's shown up at ICE facilities to conduct congressional oversight visits and raise concerns about ICE disregarding due process. He helped launch an investigation into ICE's unlawful obstruction of congressional oversight and introduced bills to ban ICE from wearing masks, prevent immigration enforcement from targeting schools, hospitals, polling locations, and places of worship, and cut back the excessive funding that MAGA Republicans gave them.

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