ICYMI: Rep. Stevens Introduces the Hold ICE Accountable Act to Establish Independent Oversight of DHS Following ICE Misconduct

Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens introduced the Hold ICE Accountable Act, legislation to establish an independent Special Prosecutor to investigate unlawful conduct by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

This bill is her latest in a series of efforts to stand up to ICE, demand transparency, and fight for accountability after a pattern of violence, misconduct, and lack of oversight.

Here’s what Michiganders are seeing and reading about Rep. Haley Stevens fighting to ensure accountability at every level of ICE, from the bottom to the top, so no one is above the law.

WZZM: Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens proposes bill for independent investigations into ICE misconduct

By: Erin Sullivan

• Congresswoman Haley Stevens introduced legislation aimed at increasing oversight of federal immigration enforcement, calling for an independent prosecutor to investigate alleged misconduct by Department of Homeland Security personnel.
• Stevens introduced the Hold ICE Accountable Act, which would create an independent special prosecutor to investigate alleged misconduct by the Department Of Homeland Security and ICE. Now the bill says the special prosecutor would need to be independent and have no ties to the current administration.
• Stevens wrote this legislation after she says she was stonewalled by acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. The US Representative has previously called for an investigation into the death of Gantchev two separate times. She said she never received a response.
• “It will give people peace of mind, and, frankly, stop some of the lawlessness,”
• The legislation comes amid heightened scrutiny of federal immigration operations following two fatal shootings in Minneapolis earlier this year. She also said it's in response to the death of a detainee at the Northlake Processing Center in Lake County.
• “Members of Congress have been stonewalled,” Stevens said. “We have been stonewalled trying to get answers to deaths in ICE detention facilities.”
• Under Stevens’ proposal, an independent special prosecutor would need to meet several requirements, including a separation from the Department of Justice while maintaining oversight by Congress.
• “We asked about the death of Mr. Gantchev, when we were at Baldwin. We were informed that a death investigation was still going, on you know, a month and a half later we still haven't gotten the answers. and so look, we need a special prosecutor.”

Fox2: Rep. Haley Stevens introduces 'Hold ICE Accountable' act

By: Jamie Sherrod

• “This is about accountability, for an agency that hasn't had any. Everywhere I go in Michigan people are asking about ICE overreach, ICE abuses of power, excessive force, racial profiling, there are deep concerns about what is going on in Romulus,  and in South Field. I’m a member of Congress, and I’ve been stonewalled.”
• “My legislation that I am offering today, is going to put in place a special prosecutor, so that we can have accountability for ICE agents that have committed crimes. We saw two Americans killed before our very eyes, none of this has been acceptable. So, I want real accountability now, that isn't tied to waiting for this administration, who has failed Michigan, and failed the American people.”
• “We were told that an investigation was going on, that a death review was going on, I’ve also been at the forefront of calling out ICE abuse of power and ICE mismanagement. I called for Kristi Noem to go, I called for her to be removed from office as the Cabinet Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security. From top to bottom, we need accountability”
• “We still need accountability, we need reforms, and we need to see prosecutions for crimes committed, which is why I’ve written this legislation to create a special prosecutor that will be at the level of a U.S. attorney to go in and do what's right on behalf of the letter of the law here in this country. We’ve got to work on the fears that are going on here in Michigan, and with Michiganders. People have been so worried about what they saw in Minneapolis coming here to Michigan, there is tension, and there is lack of trust because there is no accountability, and there is so much mismanagement going on at this time.”
• “I want to see real reforms, I want to see accountability, and I want to see Michigan protected and heard at the lawmaking table.”

###