BOP and ICE Illegally Deny Rep. Dan Goldman Access to MDC Brooklyn Despite Providing Prior Notice

  

  

NEW YORK, NY — Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) was once again illegally denied access to the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn today, where more than 100 immigrants are currently being held. Last week, Representatives Goldman, Espaillat, and Velázquez were blocked from touring the facility, with Bureau of Prisons (BOP) officials promising to accommodate a tour of the facility if given advanced notice of a visit. Congressman Goldman gave BOP advanced notice of today's visit on Friday, August 8th, yet BOP once again refused to allow the Congressman to inspect the facility without providing an explanation. Prior notice is not required under Section 527(a) of the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024, which grants Members of Congress the authority to inspect any facility being used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain or house immigrants. 

   

"The Bureau of Prisons is now complicit in the Department of Homeland Security’s illegal refusal to allow members of Congress to conduct oversight over immigration detainees. Despite promising to accommodate an advance request to inspect conditions at the MDC Brooklyn where immigrants are being detained, the BOP denied my request to do so.  

  

“Just yesterday, a federal judge found that DHS was holding immigration detainees in illegal and unconstitutional conditions at 26 Federal Plaza and ordered DHS to immediately improve those inhumane conditions. For months, DHS denied allegations of dreadful conditions and prevented me from accessing the 26 Federal Plaza detention facility to inspect the conditions. Now we know that DHS has been lying to the American people for months.  

  

“BOP is now helping DHS stash immigrants in their jails and preventing members of Congress from conducting oversight. The American people deserve a government that tells the truth, follows the law, and does not cover up abuse.” 

  

The denial of access comes less than 24 hours after a federal judge ordered DHS to improve conditions at a separate ICE detention facility at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, where Goldman has been leading efforts to expose inhumane conditions (full statement here). DHS has continuously rebuffed Congressman Goldman’s past attempts to inspect the 26 Federal Plaza facility. 

 

Congressman Goldman and 11 other Members of Congress filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration last month over its continued refusal to allow members of Congress to access ICE detention facilities, including the 26 Federal Plaza, which is also located in the Congressman’s district.