U.S. Representative Steven Horsford toured the privately run Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump on 19 Aug. after the facility barred him from entry three weeks earlier, an action he says violated congressional oversight rights. ICE officials had previously argued that visits must be cleared in advance because of security concerns, including what DHS called a recent “surge in assaults” at its sites. During a two-hour inspection, Horsford spoke with nine detainees—seven of them asylum seekers—who said medical treatment can take weeks and that they are limited to 20 minutes of phone time a week, split into five-minute segments that hinder communication with attorneys. Several also reported being transferred across state lines overnight without notice. The facility, one of two ICE jails in southern Nevada, held about 350 people as of 4 Aug., according to federal data. Horsford said cleanliness and food quality had improved shortly before his arrival, suggesting the changes were made in anticipation of the visit. He has asked the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, chaired by fellow Nevadan Mark Amodei, to investigate DHS’s earlier refusal to admit him and to consider conditioning future funding on full compliance with congressional oversight.