Today, Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) released the following statement:
“I am committed to getting answers for the people I represent about immigration operations in Northwest Washington. Today, I went to ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) facility in Ferndale. This visit is a follow-up from my visit to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) facility in July.
“I will continue to conduct robust, close oversight of Trump’s immigration enforcement in Northwest Washington. On questions that I was not able to get complete answers to from ERO and HSI, I will keep fighting for more information for the people I represent.
“1. HSI was created to investigate human trafficking, financial crimes, narcotics and cross-border smuggling – not civil immigration violations. Agents told me that HSI staff were assigned to do ERO’s civil immigration enforcement in 2025 because ERO was not yet staffed up to fulfill Trump’s aggressive deportation agenda. I will be following up to get more information about HSI’s operations in 2025. I support HSI’s mission to stop child and drug trafficking, and HSI agents should do HSI work.
“2. HSI agents said that while they were supporting ERO operations in 2025, they stopped at the start of this year.
“3. HSI’s facility does have holding space for detaining people, and they told me they haven’t held anyone longer than four hours this year. They cannot hold an individual for more than 12 hours, and detained people have access to food, a phone room and medical treatment if needed.
“This is not case-closed on oversight of ICE activity in our region. I will be following up with more questions for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE, and I will keep pushing for answers. I will keep fighting to cement humanity into U.S. immigration policy and to make sure ICE follows the same rules as every other law enforcement agency.
In July 2026, Rep. Larsen visited ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) facility in Ferndale to get answers for the community about the facility’s operations. In June 2025, Rep. Larsen toured the privately-run ICE detention facility in Tacoma and met with Lelo Juarez, a Skagit County union leader and activist whom ICE detained in March 2025.
In Congress, Rep. Larsen has refused to vote for legislation that would fund ICE without placing additional guardrails on the agency and requiring that ICE follow the same rules as every other local, state and federal law enforcement agency.
Rep. Larsen supports strengthening accountability and oversight of ICE operations and DHS detention facilities, including:
Prohibiting ICE officers from wearing masks during arrests;
Requiring ICE officers to be trained in de-escalation;
Prohibiting masked ICE officers from using restricted equipment, such as tear gas;
Ending family and child detention;
Ending DHS’s use of private detention facilities;
Providing individuals in immigration detention with unlimited communication with legal counsel;
Repealing the Alien Enemies Act, which President Trump has used to deport immigrants from Venezuela with no due process by accusing them of “invading” the United States; and
A complete and independent investigation into the killings of unarmed civilians.
