Democratic Lawmakers Make Surprise Visit to ICE Detention Center on Father’s Day

Several Democrats decided to use Father’s Day to call attention to the practice of separating children from their families at the border amid growing outrage. A group of Democratic lawmakers from New York and New Jersey went to an immigration detention center on Sunday and talked to immigrants who had been separated from their families. The seven Democrats — Reps. Frank Pallone, Albio Sires*, and Bill Pascrell of New Jersey and Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Carolyn Maloney, Hakeem Jeffries, and Adriano Espaillat of New York — made the surprise visit to the Elizabeth Contract Detention facility in Elizabeth, N.J., where they had to wait for about an hour before finally being allowed inside.