Require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Detention Oversight to audit new and existing ICE jails, prohibit new admissions until deficiencies are fixed, and require ICE to report audit findings and facility fixes to Congress.
Require ICE’s Office of Detention Oversight to audit new and existing ICE jails, prohibit new admissions until deficiencies are fixed, and require ICE to report audit findings and facility fixes to Congress.
Occurrences
Congress must stand with the American people and fight until we deliver the reforms to ICE they deserve.
Evidence
Sen. Andy Kim introduced legislation Thursday intended to stop the Trump administration from using taxpayer funds to detain immigrants in warehouses, hire more enforcement agents, and operate jails where migrants are held in inhumane conditions. The bills come as federal Department of Homeland Security officials have been quietly carrying out a $45 billion expansion of detention facilities nationally, including one planned for Roxbury.
Today, Senators Andy Kim (D-NJ) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the End Warehouse Detention Act to prohibit the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from using taxpayer dollars, taken through Trump’s 'Big Disastrous Reconciliation Bill,' to purchase warehouses or to use warehouses to detain non-citizens.
U.S. Sen Andy Kim grilled a fellow senator and nominee to be the next Department of Homeland Security secretary Wednesday about a warehouse the department purchased in Roxbury to house immigrant detainees.
Today, Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) introduced the ICE Funding Accountability Act and the Private Detention Accountability Act... Private Detention Accountability Act – Require the ICE Office of Detention Oversight (ODO) to conduct audits of new and existing ICE detention facilities, prohibit those facilities from accepting new detainees until any audit deficiencies are remedied, and increase congressional oversight by requiring ICE to submit reports to Congress on how they are addressing any deficiencies discovered through audits.
Senator Kim introduced five amendments during today’s Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs mark-up... KIM AMENDMENT 4 – Uphold Congress’s authority to conduct unannounced oversight visits to detention facilities
Senator Kim announced introduction of the ICE Funding Accountability Act and the Private Detention Accountability Act. The release says the Private Detention Accountability Act would require ICE ODO audits of new and existing ICE detention facilities, bar new detainees until audit deficiencies are remedied, and require ICE reports to Congress on fixes.
Kim’s office said he filed five amendments during a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee markup. One would require DHS and the DHS Inspector General to review conditions at Delaney Hall and pause payment and new detainee intake until problems were fixed; another would uphold unannounced congressional oversight visits to detention facilities.
The Senate roll-call page records H.R. 1, as amended, passing 50-50 with the Vice President voting yea. It lists Kim (D-NJ) as voting Nay.
Public Law 119-21 includes section 90003, Detention Capacity, appropriating $45,000,000,000 for single adult alien detention capacity and family residential center capacity. The section says detention standards for single-adult capacity are set at the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security, consistent with applicable law.
Section 100052 appropriates $29,850,000,000 to the Secretary of Homeland Security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement through September 30, 2029, including hiring, training, recruitment, onboarding, transportation, and related immigration-enforcement purposes.
Assessments
Kim introduced legislation and amendments that closely matched the promise, including ODO audits of new and existing ICE detention facilities, a bar on new admissions until deficiencies were remedied, and reporting to Congress. However, the evidence shows only proposed bills and amendments, not enacted federal law or implemented executive policy. The enacted detention-related appropriations did not include the promised safeguards, and Kim opposed that package. This is a serious same-term effort but not a delivered outcome as of the record provided.
Sen. Kim sponsored legislation (Private Detention Accountability Act) that explicitly would require ODO audits of new and existing ICE detention facilities, bar new admissions until audit deficiencies are remedied, and mandate ICE reporting to Congress — and he pursued related amendments and companion bills (e.g., End Warehouse Detention Act). However, the available evidence shows introduction and markup activity only; there is no record here that these provisions were enacted into law or implemented. Because the promise was actively advanced but not enacted as of the cited sources, the outcome remains unresolved in the same term.
Although Senator Andy Kim introduced legislation and publicly engaged with executive branch officials to address the conditions and oversight of ICE detention facilities, there is no evidence the specific promise—to require ICE's Office of Detention Oversight to audit all new and existing jails, prohibit new admissions until deficiencies are fixed, and require reporting of findings to Congress—was delivered as policy or law. The legislative attempts signal serious effort, but the core promise is unfulfilled.