Since the DHS Inspector General's report documented officers choking and stabbing detainees in Louisiana, the broader pattern of ICE opacity has become difficult to ignore — and this week, it reached the governor's mansion in New Jersey.

Sherrill Turned Away at Delaney Hall

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill attempted to visit Delaney Hall, the Newark detention facility that has been a flashpoint for months, and was denied entry by the Department of Homeland Security, according to reporting from the New York Times. Sherrill said DHS's actions raise "serious questions."

This is the same facility where, back in 2025, federal agents arrested three members of New Jersey's congressional delegation and Newark's mayor after they were denied access. The pattern since then has received less attention than the incidents suggest it deserves.

Now a sitting governor — the chief executive of the state where the facility operates — cannot gain entry.

The Oversight War in Full Detail

ICE's campaign to lock out elected officials has been methodical. On May 11, 2026, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons signed a memo imposing new visit restrictions, according to the Los Angeles Times. Under the new policy, members of Congress must identify specific detainees by name at least two business days before any visit and provide proof of consent from the detained person. Lyons called oversight visits "an unsustainable burden."

The agency documented by its own Inspector General as having officers choke and stab detainees is now arguing that oversight visits are too burdensome.

Congress pushed back fast. Twelve House members sued in Neguse et al. v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement et al., and a federal court issued a temporary restraining order blocking the policy, according to VisaVerge. The court sided with lawmakers who cited Section 527 of the FY 2024 DHS Appropriations Act — which explicitly grants members of Congress unannounced access to ICE detention sites. The restraining order was initially set for 14 days.

ICE's response was to issue another memo on May 11 with a slightly modified version of the same restrictions, this time requiring two days' notice instead of seven, according to the American Immigration Council's Raul Pinto and Aaron Reichlin-Melnick. Same obstruction, new paperwork.

$72 Billion on the Table — With No Accountability Attached

While all of this is happening, Senate Republicans voted along party lines on June 3 to begin debate on a reconciliation package that would fund ICE and immigration enforcement agencies to the tune of $72 billion through fiscal year 2029, according to NPR's Barbara Sprunt.

The bill had been stuck since mid-May over a different controversy: the Trump administration's proposed "anti-weaponization fund" — a pool of taxpayer money to compensate people who claimed to be targeted by the federal government. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress the fund was scrapped. That seemed to unstick the bill.

Except Trump himself muddied the water on Wednesday. Asked directly whether the fund was dead, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: "The weaponization fund, as far as I'm concerned, was a beautiful thing." Pressed again on whether it was dead or just on hold, Trump said: "It's... I'd have to ask the lawyers, I don't know."

So the fund that was supposed to be killed to revive the bill may or may not be dead. And the $72 billion is moving forward anyway.

The bill also cut nearly $1 billion that had been earmarked for Secret Service funding, including security for Trump's planned ballroom. That line item was removed. ICE's $72 billion survived intact.

Separate Stories or the Same Problem

Left-leaning outlets like the New York Times and NPR are covering the governor's denial and the funding bill competently, but they're framing these as separate stories. Congress is being asked to write a $72 billion check — through fiscal year 2029 — to an agency that is simultaneously fighting off every mechanism of oversight designed to catch abuse. The DHS IG found abuse. The AP-KFF investigation found 300+ sworn medical neglect cases. A federal court had to issue a restraining order just to preserve Congress's existing legal right to visit these facilities unannounced.

Fox News covered the ICE funding bill moving forward but barely touched the governor access story.

The American Immigration Council, which has an obvious advocacy lean, is nevertheless correct on the core legal point: Section 527 is not ambiguous. Congress wrote itself unannounced access into law specifically to prevent the kind of abuse that the DHS IG is now documenting. ICE keeps trying to paper over that law with internal memos. Courts keep blocking them. ICE issues new memos.

The Bottom Line

Taxpayers are being asked to fund a $72 billion expansion of a detention system that its own federal watchdog found abusive, that has documented medical neglect, and that is actively obstructing the oversight that exists to protect detainees. Governor Sherrill couldn't get through the door. A sitting governor. The Senate is about to hand that same agency $72 billion.