Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings had sent his staff to visit border facilities for oversight inspections last week and planned to send staff again to view Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) this week, Fox News reported on Wednesday.
DHS has revoked access to CBP facilities for the upcoming visit, citing staff behavior that “interfered” with law enforcement operations - including refusing to leave one site after their scheduled window, skipping some tours and being rude to officers, the report said.
Last week, following a visit to one of the first facilities on the committee staff's itinerary, DHS Assistant Secretary of Legislative Affairs Christine Ciccone wrote to Cummings, notifying him that due to his staff’s violations of guidelines, their planned follow-up tour this week could not be accommodated.
The latest altercations between border officials and Oversight Committee aides were not the first.
Last month, the Washington Examiner reported on a trip in which Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez screamed at agents and behaved in a threatening manner.