1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

On May 25, 2026, a sitting United States Senator was tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed by federal ICE agents. Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey was outside the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark supporting detainees on hunger strike — men and women protesting rotten food, inadequate medical care, and extreme heat inside a privately-run facility that has already seen at least one death in ICE custody. Senator Kim had gained access to the facility to negotiate. When those talks broke down, masked ICE agents in an armored vehicle fired tear gas and pepper spray into the crowd. “My throat’s burning. My eyes are burning,” Kim told ABC News. “But it’s not about me. Several detainees have told me they’re being threatened with retaliation — that if they continue the protest, they will be transferred and their family visitation rights cut off.” New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill was denied access to the facility entirely. She said the Trump administration’s refusal raised “serious questions about what they are trying to hide.” 2025 was already the deadliest year in decades for deaths in ICE custody. The Trump administration has moved to eliminate Congress’s right to conduct unannounced inspections of ICE facilities. And now federal agents are using chemical weapons on United States senators conducting constitutionally protected oversight. This is not a border security policy. This is a government using force to prevent elected officials and the public from witnessing what is happening inside detention facilities funded by American taxpayers. We demand that Congress speak out immediately and publicly about the attack on Senator Kim, conduct urgent oversight hearings into conditions at Delaney Hall and all ICE detention facilities, restore Congress’s right to conduct unannounced inspections, and investigate the use of chemical agents against peaceful protesters and a sitting U.S. senator. Silence is complicity. Speak out now.