In the News
"I got a chance to speak to a handful of the people who are detained. The stories range from heartbreaking to frustrating," Stevens said.
"What I saw today was not the worst of the worst. In fact, I had to ask about the safety and security," Stevens said.
"Do you have weapons on you? Do you carry firearms? No. Do you carry Tasers? No. So if this is the worst of the worst, then why don't we need our guards? They said no one in the facility has arms," Stevens said.
"We went through the intake process of what it would be like to be an individual who was being brought in to the ICE detention facility," Stevens said.
While Stevens says she also got to talk with those behind bars, including a woman who was arrested in Macomb County and is currently pregnant.
"She was so shaken and so upset and so fearful missing her young child and of course worried about her pregnancy," said Stevens.
U.S. Reps. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids, and Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, toured the North Lake Processing Center in Lake County after asking several questions about the December death of Nenko Gantchev.
Gantchev, a 56-year-old man from Bulgaria, was found unresponsive in his cell on Dec. 15 and eventually declared dead from natural causes.
Representative Haley Stevens of the Detroit area and Representative Hilary Scholten of Grand Rapids visited North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin in Lake County. That's after a man died there in December, Nanko Ganchev, a Bulgarian man arrested in Chicago.
Two Michigan congresswomen visited the state’s largest immigrant detention center Tuesday. They are calling for stronger oversight of the Department of Homeland Security
By law, members of Congress are allowed to tour all immigration detention facilities unannounced, but the Trump administration has disputed that.
Representative Stevens said she has lost faith in Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has not answered any of her questions about Gantchev’s death at North Lake.
United States Representatives Haley Stevens and Hillary Scholten toured the North Lake Processing Center in Lake County Tuesday, seeking answers after a detainee died at the ICE detention facility in December. The lawmakers walked through the building and spoke with detainees.
They said nearly 100 detainees requested to speak with them, but they were told those conversations could not be in private.
In December, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said a detainee, Nenko Gatnchev, was found dead in a cell in the detention facility. He was a 56 year old from Bulgaria and was arrested in Chicago.
Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens and Hillary Scholten toured the ICE detention facility in Baldwin on Tuesday.
The purpose of their visit was to see firsthand living conditions for detainees and to push for answers in the death of an undocumented immigrant.
U.S Representatives Haley Stevens and Hillary Scholten toured the North Lake Processing Center today, to ask questions about an ongoing investigation into the death of a 56 year old detainee named Nenko Gantchev. Gantchev died in December, and ICE said it was due to natural causes.