ELOY, AZ (AZFamily) — Democratic U.S. House Rep. Yassamin Ansari visited the Eloy Detention Center on Saturday to meet with immigrants who are being detained there.She’s calling for more oversight and change at a time when lawmakers across the country claim they have been denied access to ICE facilities.Ansari claims she was denied access last month, but this latest visit marks the second time the Congresswoman has gone to the Eloy Detention Center.She said she heard from about two dozen detainees on Saturday, and many told her they had faced retaliation because they spoke up about issues the last time she was there.“Dehumanizing, racist, unacceptable treatment,” said Ansari. “It’s a stain on the humanity of this country.”Ansari spent about four hours touring the Eloy Detention Center on Saturday and spoke with 23 detainees about what life is like inside the facility.“First and foremost they do not have access to quality water. The water that they are given to drink has chlorine in it. It is giving them rashes on their bodies. They all said that they are getting used underwear,” said Ansari.The Democrat said 98 immigrants with no criminal records signed up to share their experiences with her.Data indicates that approximately 1,300 people are currently in Eloy awaiting immigration proceedings.“All of the people I spoke with today, they are simply asylum seekers. They are refugees from some of the toughest places in the world who believed in the United States as a place of refuge,” said Ansari.She said she met with a woman named Arbella “Yari” Rodriguez Marquez, who has leukemia and has been here since February.“She was diagnosed in 2013. She has numbing. She’s unable to walk. She has bruises all over her body. She was sobbing, telling me her story,” said Ansari.Ansari is demanding that Yari be able to see an oncologist.“She’s coughing up blood, she’s vomiting. She says that she is dying and she’s been told over and over again that she would be able to see a specialist and that has yet to happen,” said Ansari.Arizona’s Family reported on Yari’s situation in July.An ICE spokesperson told us that Yari was arrested for “attempting to smuggle an illegal alien passenger with fraudulent identification in her vehicle” at the border in Nogales.ICE officials said she never told border patrol about her cancer diagnosis, and she has seen a medical professional more than a dozen times since she was sent to Eloy.“The accusations against her are egregious, but beyond that her only ask right now is to see a specialist so she doesn’t have to be in debilitating pain each and every day,” said Ansari.Ansari plans to return to Eloy to speak with more immigrants and continue to advocate for reform.Arizona’s Family reached out to ICE for comment and were provided this statement: “ICE strongly refutes Congresswoman Yassamin Ansar’s false claims following her visit to Eloy Detention Center. ICE remains committed to transparency and the humane treatment of individuals in our custody, and we reject these baseless accusations.ICE ensures detainees receive nutritious meals, access to medical services, and safe, clean-living conditions. The representative’s remarks intentionally distort the reality of the facility’s conditions, the treatment of detainees, and the services we provide Her claims about the water quality, medical care, and detainees being retaliated against for raising concerns are demonstrably false.During the visit, we provided a comprehensive overview of our operations and demonstrated how we meet federal standards. This visit was less about oversight and more about promoting a pre-scripted agenda. It is clear the representative arrived with a pre-planned narrative and used the visit as a platform to mislead the public. Their decision to have media pre-staged further highlights the publicity-driven nature of this visit..ICE will continue to uphold the highest standards of care in our facilities and urge all stakeholders to engage in constructive dialogue based on facts rather than political theatrics.”See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.Copyright 2025 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.