Congressman Crow Sues Trump Administration for Denying Access to Aurora’s ICE Detention Facility

AURORA — Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO-06) today announced that he is suing the Trump Administration after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unlawfully denied him access to the Aurora ICE Detention Facility. This denial violated federal law, which grants Members of Congress the right to conduct unannounced oversight visits of federal immigration detention facilities.

The lawsuit is being filed in the District of Columbia Federal Court alongside other Members of Congress who were also denied access to federal detention facilities, including: Reps. Joe Neguse (D-CO-02), Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), Bennie Thompson (D-MS-02), Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16), Dan Goldman (D-NY-10), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY-13), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34), Norma Torres (D-CA-35), Raul Ruiz (D-CA-36), Robert Garcia (D-CA-42), and Lou Correa (D-CA-46).

Since being elected to Congress, Crow has fought to promote transparency, oversight, and accountability in federal immigration detention centers. He introduced bipartisan legislation guaranteeing Members of Congress the right to conduct unannounced, in-person oversight visits of ICE detention facilities, including to check on any concerns related to public health and the humane treatment of detained individuals.

Congressman Crow regularly conducts oversight of the facility. Since 2019, he’s successfully visited the facility nine times, and his team has gone over 70 times. Crow also publishes public reports on his website of oversight visits and conditions at the facility.

In a statement, Congressman Crow said:

“Today, I filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration after they illegally denied me access into a federal immigration detention facility.

“Oversight is a fundamental responsibility of Congress. Under law, Members of Congress have the right to do unannounced oversight visits of federal immigration detention facilities.

“Since President Trump was elected, this administration has denied Members of Congress access to immigration detention facilities and tried to intimidate us from doing our jobs. I will not be deterred from conducting lawful oversight, and I’ll continue fighting to hold the administration accountable, including in Congress and the courts.”

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