U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo joins Democratic colleagues for unannounced Massachusetts field office visit

U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo and two other New England Democrats made an unannounced visit Friday to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regional headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts to follow up on reports of detainees being housed there for multiple days and sleeping on concrete floors with limited food available.

Amo, who represents Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District, spent 45 minutes touring the facility with U.S. Reps. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts and Becca Balint of Vermont to assess conditions for people held longer than the facility was designed to accommodate. Amo described the office as a temporary processing facility without a full kitchen.

“It’s ultimately important that we get an accurate view of what happens in there so that we can get the institution to do better,” Amo said in an interview after the 12:15 p.m. visit. “We don’t want to see a sanitized version of the facility.”

Over an hour drive from Providence, the Burlington office is primarily a place where ICE officers file paperwork and meet with people across New England for scheduled check-ins with immigration officials. It also serves as an intake center, where detainees are supposed to spend a few hours before they get transferred.

Several outlets have reported that detainees have been housed in the facility for multiple days.

Amo’s account of what he saw largely echoed those reports. He described a facility with no kitchen or dining area, just refrigerators and a sink.

“That’s insufficient,” he said. “If you’re going to have people in there for a period of time, you’re going to need food.”

Amo also described the sleeping arrangements for detainees held overnight, saying they are given thin mats rather than mattresses, along with pillows and lightweight, reflective thermal foil blankets.

A dozen detainees were in the facility during the tour, Amo said. The congressional delegates were not allowed to speak directly with them during the visit, he added.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, disputed claims of inadequate conditions at the Burlington facility, saying detainees have access to food, bedding and showers — along with medical treatment and opportunities to contact lawyers and family members.

“In fact, ICE has higher detention standards than most US prisons that hold actual US citizens,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Rhode Island Current.

But the spokesperson, who did not sign their name, described Burlington as primarily a processing center, saying detainees are transferred to other facilities for longer-term stays.

“Illegal aliens are quickly processed and transferred to permanent housing at a detention facility,” the spokesperson said.

Amo said he would push for greater accountability for ICE, including scrutiny of its enforcement practices and the people it targets, while pursuing legislation to provide legal status to some immigrants who have lived in the United States for years.

But even if Democrats retake control of Congress in November, Amo acknowledged that advancing immigration reform will remain a challenge with Donald Trump in the White House for another two years.

“Does he want to be a president for the whole country, or does he want to continue to carry out chaos and cruelty on our streets?” Amo said.

Spokespeople for Auchincloss and Balint did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In a video posted to social media at 2:19 p.m., Balint said she was alarmed that women were being held multiple days at a time.

“I am going to continue to keep the pressure on,” she said.