CHANTILLY, Va. (7News) — Three Democratic Congressman from Virginia showed up on a surprise visit last week in Chantilly to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility.

They had been told about serious overcrowding and long-term detention of immigrants there, but when they went inside, that’s not what they found.

“One of the things we wanted to do was confirm that ICE was abiding by court order and based on the day we visited and based on their statements, it appears that they are,” said Democratic Rep. James Walkinshaw of Virginia’s 11th district.

WALKINSHAW

It was his second visit to the facility and he said he found conditions inside much improved.

He toured the facility unannounced with Congressmen Suhas Subramanyam and Don Beyer.

Subramanyam said he does not like the whole situation but agrees that ICE seems to be following procedure.

“I understand why people were coming to us upset. You weren’t shoulder to shoulder with people but it was prison conditions and in some ways a little worse so I wouldn’t say it’s a great. I wasn’t impressed by the facility ,” he said. “I have so many constituents who have been wrongfully detained so you add that on top of it it’s very frustrating to see those.”

SUHAS

One order came down in February when a federal court restored unannounced Congressional visits to detention facilities, blocking a Trump administration policy that required seven days notice.

Another thing Walkinshaw was looking for was whether ICE was holding detainees for more than 12 hours.

He believes they were following protocol for both.

“After we conducted the visit, we came out and recorded a video and we were open and honest about what we saw,” Walkinshaw said. “I didn’t see the conditions that were reported in the spring and summer. It doesn’t mean those conditions didn’t exist at that time.”

7News got inside the facility on Murdock Street last year. It holds a maximum of 16 detainees.

We reached out to ICE to ask about the visit and whether rules allowing access for Congressional oversight have changed or if the Department of Homeland Security has instituted other policies in response to those incidents last year.