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- Pennsylvania lawmakers introduced a bill to allow congressional staff to enter immigrant detention facilities without prior notice.
- The “Oversight Access Act of 2026” aims to prevent officials from obstructing congressional oversight visits.
- The legislation follows incidents where lawmakers were reportedly blocked from bringing staff and speaking with detainees.
Two Pittsburgh-area lawmakers joined forces with their Pennsylvania colleagues to introduce legislation on Aug. 17 that would allow members of Congress to enter immigrant detention facilities with a staff member without giving prior notice.
House Resolution 10111, titled “Oversight Access Act of 2026,” would allow members of Congress to conduct oversight visits alongside a staff member without having to obtain prior approval for the staff member, according to a press release from Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pennsylvania. Currently, members of Congress can visit ICE detention facilities unannounced, but staff members must receive prior approval to enter a facility.
Lee and Chris Deluzio, D-Pennsylvania, who both represent parts of Allegheny County, introduced the bill alongside Pennsylvania Democrats Madeleine Dean, Mary Gay Scanlon and Dwight Evans. The legislation came after Lee, Deluzio and Dean conducted visits to Moshannon Valley Processing Facility earlier this year, the Northeast’s largest immigration detainment facility. There, representatives said officials blocked staff members from entering the facility to interpret and limited conversations between lawmakers and detainees.
Here’s what the bill, if passed, would do.
Under new bill, staff could accompany Congress members to ICE facilities unannounced
The bill seeks to prevent the Secretary of Homeland Security from detaining or stopping members of Congress or their staff from entering detention facilities during oversight visits, according to its text. It would also do away with the requirement for congressional staff to receive prior approval before entering a detention facility, and it would prohibit the federal government from making any modifications at detention facilities “that in any way alters what is observed” by members of Congress.
“Moshannon officials blocked my staff from joining our oversight visit this May, and it limited the conversations we could have with people detained inside,” Deluzio said. “Unannounced congressional oversight visits to federal facilities are powerful and important accountability measures. However, unannounced oversight would be far stronger if Members of Congress could be accompanied by a staff member who could provide translation services, legal guidance, or policy expertise.”
Lee added that members of Congress require translation services, as well as legal and policy expertise, during oversight visits, something she said staff plays “a critical role” in providing.
“It’s been made clear abuse, neglect, and inhumane conditions have plagued detention centers,” she said. “Members of Congress have a constitutional responsibility and right to conduct oversight, and we must be able to do our jobs without obstruction or intimidation. No administration is above accountability.”
Members of Congress stopped from speaking with detainees at Pennsylvania ICE facility
In May, Deluzio and Lee both visited the Moshannon Valley Processing Facility, where they said they were not allowed to bring staff members to interpret. They were also not allowed to bring their phones inside.
Detainees inside the facility spoke with Deluzio and Lee, sharing concerns about the conditions there, but the lawmakers said in letters to GEO Group and federal officials earlier this month that facility staff “rushed” them away immediately after the interaction. Deluzio also said in May that he was not allowed to speak to Randy Cordova Flores, a Peruvian father who was arrested in January and, Pittsburgh’s Public Source reported, released in June.
In June, Dean had a similar experience, according to a press release from Deluzio’s office, where she was not allowed to speak to detainees during her visit to the facility.
In their letters to GEO Group and federal officials, Lee, Deluzio and Dean called for an overhaul of procedures at Moshannon and reports on a potential conflict of interest involving ICE’s acting director David Venturella.
Finch Walker is the Pittsburgh Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Contact Walker at FWalker@usatodayco.com. Instagram: @finchwalker_. X: @_finchwalker.