Rep. Morrison reports detainees in leg shackles, no clear plan to prevent measles at Whipple

At the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, detainees are walking around in leg shackles, aren’t being assessed for medical concerns at intake and are sleeping on concrete floors, according to Rep. Kelly Morrison.

Morrison, a Democrat representing the west metro, was able to tour the building holding many of those detained in Operation Metro Surge on Feb. 5 and again on Feb. 6.

Inside, Morrison said, there is one nurse who is present from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., but there are no posted medical protocols, and nobody receives a complete medical exam unless they are sent to a detention facility in Texas. Detainees are sleeping on the floor and given only thin foil blankets, she said.

“It’s a very disheartening scene and, I think, it’s beneath what we should expect in the United States of America,” Morrison said.

Morrison is one of 13 members of Congress who have sued the Department of Homeland Security, saying they had been previously blocked from their right to conduct oversight on immigration detention and holding sites.

Because Whipple is considered only a temporary holding site, the rules that would govern conditions at a detention center don’t apply, she said. Medical procedures are especially unclear for a possible measles case. Some detainees, Morrison said, are moving back and forth from detention in Dilley, Texas, where there has been an outbreak of the highly contagious virus.

Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The department has disputed past allegations about the conditions at Whipple and said detainees are provided with proper meals, water and medical treatment.

While Morrison, as a plaintiff, has since been allowed inside Whipple, Democratic Reps. Angie Craig and Betty McCollum have still not been let inside, and were both turned away on Friday.

Craig said in a phone interview that members of Congress need to be allowed inside with no notice, because this oversight provision was included in recent short-term funding for DHS.

“You don’t want to give ICE officials time to prepare for your arrival,” Craig said.

During her visit on Feb. 5, Morrison had to wait 30 minutes before entering Whipple, she said in a statement; on Feb. 6, she waited close to an hour, she said.

Even though one member of Minnesota’s delegation has been allowed entry, “they’re violating the law by not allowing all three of us inside that facility,” Craig said.