Maxwell Frost introduces legislation to make ICE more accountable

Central Florida Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost on Wednesday introduced federal legislation that would strengthen public accountability of all Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.

Frost argued that ICE agents are abusing the rule of law, skirting due process, and targeting nonviolent working people.

His bill — called the Stop Unlawful Detention and End Mistreatment Act — would require all ICE-operated and affiliated facilities to publicly list all individuals who are being detained, where they are being detained, when they’ve been detained, and why.

The legislation would also require ICE facilities to provide information regarding the age, nationality, and legal status of those detained, as well as data on any use of force when they were being detained, along with information if they were transferred to another facility or deported out of the country.

The provisions would also cover local jails contracting with ICE.

“We’re talking about mothers, fathers, grandparents, taxpayers, even folks showing up for their immigration hearings,” Frost said at a press conference held at his district office in Orlando about those being taken in by ICE agents. “It’s a culture of fear and chaos.”

The representative went on to say that even U.S. citizens have been wrongfully detained under Florida’s recently passed immigration law (enforcement of which has been suspended by a federal judge).

While congressional Democrats have expressed outrage regarding ICE’s actions for months, a Pew Research Center survey of more than 5,000 U.S. adults published on Tuesday showed that Americans have more mixed views of the Trump administration’s immigration actions this year, with opinions about specific policies largely split along partisan lines, with Republicans supportive and Democrats opposed.

On the specific issue of ICE raids on workplaces where undocumented migrants may be working, 54% said they disapproved of those actions, with 45% supporting the raids (the survey was conducted before the recent high-profile ICE raid on workplaces in Los Angeles).

Confrontations

In the past month, ICE agents have had physical confrontations with Democratic party lawmakers in incidents across the country.

• New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested on Tuesday by federal agents at an immigration court after he linked arms with a person authorities were attempting to detain.
• California U.S. Senator Alex Padilla was shoved to the ground and handcuffed by federal agents at a Homeland Security press conference in Los Angeles  last week.
• New Jersey Democratic U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted last week by a grand jury following charges of assaulting two federal agents during a confrontation outside an ICE detention facility in Newark.

Joining Frost at his press conference were immigration advocates who said the legislation is badly needed.

“The Number One problem that we’re having in the community, especially in Orange County, is the fact that our people are disappearing. Immigrants are disappearing from the county jail,” said Ericka Gómez-Tejeda of the Immigrants are Welcome Here Coalition.

There are two reasons for that, she said, the first being the 287(g) agreements that 292 local law enforcement agencies in Florida have signed with the federal government to assist in immigration enforcement. The second reason are the additional agreements between Florida law enforcement and ICE regarding the delivery of those detainees.

“The moment that that person bonds out, they disappear from the jail system and there is no way of knowing if they’re still there, [or] if they have been sent to Krome [a detention center in Miami], if they’ve been sent to Texas, if they’ve been sent to New Mexico,” Gómez-Tejeda said.

“This is why it’s most imperative that bills like this ensure that, at the local levels, we have a way of keeping people tracked so that they can have representation and due process.”