Rep. Jason Crow issued a statement from his office Sunday, stating he was denied entry to Aurora’s ICE Detention Facility, a move he says violates federal law and undermines congressional authority to oversee federal immigration operations.

“Today I attempted to visit the federal detention facility in Aurora in order to conduct critical oversight as a Member of Congress,” Crow said in a statement. “I was unlawfully denied access by ICE and the Trump administration.”

Crow, a Democrat representing Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, which includes Aurora and parts of the eastern Denver metro area, has made regular visits to the privately operated GEO Group facility since entering Congress in 2019.

The visits typically involve walkthrough inspections of housing pods, reviews of medical and dietary conditions, and inquiries into detainee access to legal services. Oversight reports compiled by his staff are made public.

During his most recent visit on July 3, 2025, Crow’s staff noted rising temperatures in the male housing pods, the discontinuation of access to outdoor recreation due to an escape investigation, and the suspension, followed by partial restoration, of legal orientation materials. Although the congressman’s office gave the required seven days’ notice, only GEO staff were present to lead the tour; ICE declined to participate, according to the report.

In February of this year, Crow’s office stated that the Trump administration had stopped providing electronic records and written updates, thereby limiting Crow’s ability to produce comprehensive oversight reports.

“Providing oversight is critical to my job in Congress,” Crow said. “The law is clear that members of Congress have the legal right to conduct unannounced oversight of federal detention facilities.”

The Denver Gazette attempted to contact ICE for comment Sunday, but received no response at the time of publication.

The denied visit to Aurora comes as ICE moves to expand its detention footprint across Colorado, with newly obtained documents showing proposals for up to six additional facilities, including two in Colorado Springs. Among the proposed sites are a shuttered long-term care facility and a former private prison previously operated by GEO Group, the same contractor that runs the Aurora facility.

Crow’s experience in Aurora mirrors a string of similar incidents involving Democratic lawmakers nationwide.

On June 18, New York Reps. Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler say they were denied entry to an ICE facility in Manhattan. That same day, four Illinois lawmakers, Reps. Danny Davis, Jesús “Chuy” García, Delia Ramirez, and Jonathan Jackson were blocked from visiting the ICE Processing Center in Broadview, Ill., despite showing valid congressional identification, according to a statement from García’s office.  

The lawmakers said reports of unsanitary conditions prompted the visit, detainees denied legal access, and violations of city and state ordinances.

On July 15, Reps. Norma Torres and Raul Ruiz sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after they were denied access to the Adelanto ICE facility. They accused DHS of illegally blocking congressional oversight and cited federal law allowing members to visit detention centers without advance notice.

The Adelanto facility, also operated by GEO Group, is the largest ICE detention center in California, with a capacity of nearly 2,000 detainees, according to previous reporting from the Associated Press.

At the national level, ICE has pushed back against what it calls political theatrics.

Following a July 14 incident in California, the agency accused Rep. Salud Carbajal of exposing an ICE employee’s identity to protesters, resulting in the employee’s injury.

The following day, ICE stated its officials are facing an “830 percent increase in assaults from January 21 to July 14 compared with the same period in 2024.”

“Unfortunately, this is just another case of Democratic lawmakers labeling political stunts as oversight while they endanger the safety of ICE personnel,” the agency said regarding the Carbajal incident.

Regarding Sunday’s attempted oversight visit in Aurora, Crow said he remains committed to holding immigration agencies accountable.

“Since President Trump was elected, this administration has tried to intimidate members of Congress from doing their jobs,” he said. “I will not be deterred from conducting lawful oversight.”

According to the agency’s website, ICE policy requires members of Congress to submit visit requests at least seven days in advance, unless the Secretary of Homeland Security grants a waiver. In some cases, media reports have cited internal guidance requiring 72 business hours’ notice.

However, under federal law, members of Congress are allowed to conduct unannounced visits to immigration detention centers. Section 527(a) of the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act states that no prior notice is required for such visits, a point Democratic lawmakers have raised in recent challenges to ICE policy.

In the initial statement, Crow’s office did not say how much notice was given for Sunday’s attempted visit.  A follow-up call from The Denver Gazette on Sunday was not returned at the time of publication.