A Black ICE official got a mouthful from lawmakers in Maryland after a oversight visit to a detention facility took a questionable turn. Interestingly enough, it was Rep. Kweisi Mfume, a Black congressional leader, who’s criticism of the Black ICE official stood out among the rest.
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He was one of six Congress members who traveled to the George H. Fallon federal building in Baltimore, hoping to tour the site. The visit was prompted by ongoing concerns that detainees were living in “inhumane” conditions. According to the law, Congressmen and women have the right to enter any ICE detention center without prior notice. But despite the Maryland representatives being well within their rights, they were denied entry by a Black woman running the show.
Nikita Baker, the director of the U.S. ICE Baltimore Field Office, told the lawmakers ICE policy had changed without giving any more explantation, according to a video captured by CBS News. “The people [working] here must be deeply ashamed, “Sen. Angela Alsobrooks told Director Baker. “They don’t want anyone to see.” That’s when the director responded, “Well, that’s your interpretation.”
This prompted an elegant but deadly read by Mfume, a senior member of the oversight committee. “Let me give you another interpretation,” he began to Baker. “I’m old enough to remember when Black people were snatched off the streets in this country because they are Black–not because they committed a crime or [were] suspected of anything. And that was not that long ago.”
Drawing comparisons between immigrants, who have been targeted by President Donald Trump’s deportation mandate, and Black Americans targeted by slavery and racist Jim Crow laws, the 76-year-old continued. “That sort of spirit haunts your soul. That’s a perspective that haunts many of us. It certainly haunts me.”
Mfume has been avid opponent of Trump, his attacks on DEI and the deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles. “I would hope as a Black woman coming out and telling us what you did without any real explanation, I hope later today that that sort of spirit haunts your soul and that you realize that that is more important than a job,” he told Baker.
This isn’t the first time Congress members have been denied entry into ICE facilities. We reported Calif. Rep. Maxine Waters had the door slammed in her face after pulling up for an oversight visit in Los Angeles.
After being denied entry to the Baltimore facility, the Maryland leaders held a press conference. Mfume called the incident “an insult” and “stain on our democracy.” Meanwhile, immigration and human rights advocates continue to raise alarm after alleging a lack of medical attention and insufficient foods at many ICE facilities.
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