Families of people detained at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Stockton have spent months trying to find out how their relatives are being treated, and a local congressman says the federal government still hasn’t given them — or him — a straight answer.
U.S. Rep. Josh Harder, D-Stockton, sent a letter Friday to ICE Acting Director David Venturella demanding written responses by July 28 to questions the congressman says have gone unaddressed since his oversight visit to the Stockton facility in January and a formal request he sent even earlier, in October 2025.
Harder’s office said that during the January visit, staff at the Stockton facility declined to answer basic questions about detentions, transfers and ongoing enforcement work there, a pattern the congressman’s letter says has left constituents and Congress alike without information they’re entitled to.
“ICE’s continued failure to provide basic information to either the public or Congress directly harms our community, frustrates Congress’s constitutional oversight responsibilities, and leaves my constituents without answers about actions that have profoundly affected their families and community,” Harder wrote in his most recent letter. “My constituents deserve clarity and accountability from the federal government. I look forward to your prompt response.”
The letter’s demands fall into three areas. Harder first wants written responses covering what ICE staff wouldn’t address during his January visit. He’s also asking for details on enforcement activity, past and present, along with what access detainees have to lawyers, food, water, medical care, interpreters and child accommodations. Lastly, he wants to know whether the facility is following court orders and federal requirements, including its current rules on unmarked vehicles and operations near schools.
“ICE’s continued failure to provide basic information to either the public or Congress directly harms our community.”
Rep. Josh Harder, D-Stockton
This is Harder’s latest attempt to force ICE to answer questions it has so far avoided, a strategy he has paired with broader pressure on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He was among the members who called for former Secretary Kristi Noem’s removal, and after her departure he pressed her successor, Markwayne Mullin, to adopt clearer use-of-force standards, ban face coverings and racial profiling, and require agents to carry identification. Harder has also voted against new ICE funding, saying he won’t support it until those changes are made.
Whether the July 28 deadline produces a different outcome than the January visit remains to be seen.