U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Illinois 13) speaks at a Town Hall Meeting on education and funding held at East St. Louis Senior High School on Thursday, May 29, 2025. The meeting, one of a series of nationwide meetings, was sponsored by the Public Education Alliance. Scott Cousins/The TelegraphU.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski said a recent visit to the Ste. Genevieve County Detention Center provided a rare opportunity to observe conditions inside the facility where several of her constituents have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).Budzinski toured the Missouri facility on May 26, joined by Congressman Wesley Bell, who represents Missouri’s first congressional district in St. Louis. Both met with detainees during what Budzinski described as a congressional oversight visit prompted by multiple cases involving residents from communities throughout Illinois’ 13th Congressional District.Article continues below this ad“We’ve had constituents from my district” sent to the facility, Budzinski said during a Thursday afternoon interview with The Telegraph. She likewise said detainees from communities including Staunton and Bethalto have been housed there, and that individuals arrested by ICE as far north as Urbana-Champaign have also been transferred to Ste. Genevieve from her district.The congresswoman said she sought access to the ICE-contracted facility to better understand conditions inside and to speak directly with constituents being held there.“I wanted to visit this facility because of that and conduct basically an oversight visit of St. Genevieve to see firsthand what the sheriff, what the ICE officers were saying, and visit the facility,” Budzinski said.ICE detainees report water, medical care problemsRep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., questions Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack during the House Agriculture Committee hearing on the agriculture department in Longworth Building on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagUnlike some recent visits by federal lawmakers to immigration detention centers, Budzinski said local officials granted access without any physical challenges outside or resistance to their presence inside.Article continues below this ad“I was happy to see that it was not difficult for us to visit,” she said.During the tour, Budzinski said facility operators assured her that detainees’ basic needs were being met. However, she said a brief look around the space and a few meetings with detainees painted a different picture.“When Congressman Bell and I had the opportunity then to visit with constituents, we heard a different story,” Budzinski said.According to Budzinski, challenges to health and safety included problems with access to drinking water and medical care.Article continues below this ad“I elevated (concerns) with those that were operating the facility,” Budzinski said.Rep. Wesley Bell, D-Mo., right, and Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., attend the Congressional Chess Tournament hosted by the St. Louis Chess Club in Russell Building on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagThe congresswoman also shared another concern raised by a pregnant constituent of Bell. The woman had reportedly been transported to a hospital twice for pregnancy-related emergencies before Bell and Budzinski toured the facility.“Speaking to detainees and witnessing the conditions of the Ste. Genevieve County Jail, where detainees from Missouri’s First District are often sent, was exactly what I expected: these facilities were not designed for this use, but for incarceration,” Bell said in a joint statement on May 26. “Many of these individuals are here working jobs, raising families and following the rules. They did not break the law and were appearing at their asylum or immigration hearings as instructed — and they were detained anyway.”Article continues below this adNikki Budzinski raises alarm over Missouri ICE jailBudzinski also described aspects of the facility that stood out during the visit.“There were not enough proper beds for those that were there,” she said. “There were trays ... with a thin pad that was on top of the tray” being used as sleeping accommodations.The congresswoman additionally expressed concern about Missouri’s arrangement for housing ICE detainees in county jails, noting that Illinois’ Trust Act limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, while Missouri counties can receive compensation for housing ICE detainees.Article continues below this adIn Ste. Genevieve, Budzinski said, detainees without criminal records were being housed in the same jail as members of the general jail population.“That in and of itself is scary,” she said.U.S. Rep Nikki Budzinski, D-Illinois 13th, listens to Veneta Wadlow, center operations coordinator at Riverbend Head Start and Family Services in Alton on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. Budzinski also read to a class of pre-schoolers. She visited to highlight the importance of Head Start programs and to discuss securing delayed federal funding for the facility.Scott Cousins/The TelegraphAmong the detainees Budzinski met was a woman from Collinsville who was seeking asylum in the United States. Budzinski says the woman was arrested after appearing for a court appointment connected to her immigration case.Article continues below this ad“She was trying to follow proper protocol and her legal process and found herself still detained by ICE,” Budzinski said.Budzinski backs bill to limit ICE actions near courtsCongresswoman Budzinski said that concern has prompted her support for federal legislation to expand protections for immigrants attending court proceedings and accessing other public services.The Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, which was introduced by lead sponsor Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York in the House this February, would extend prohibitions on immigration enforcement activities. If passed, it would stop enforcement actions within 1,000 feet of sensitive locations like healthcare facilities, schools and school bus stops, places of worship, and courthouses.Article continues below this adRep. Bell is a co-sponsor of this legislation. He says, as a member of Congress and the House Oversight Committee, he is committed to continuing oversight of DHS and ICE — to ensure they “are operating humanely and according to their written standards.”“The human beings detained across our country need to be treated as just that — and they deserve so much more care than they are being given,” Bell said. “I’ll continue to fight to ensure these detainees are given adequate healthcare and legal protections and are treated with the dignity and respect all people deserve, not only in the St. Louis region, but across the country.”Bell said after the visit, he could only conclude the Trump Administration's method for deploying ICE "is deplorable" at minimum.Article continues below this ad"It is disgusting," Bell said in a video to his Facebook followers, "and it needs to be shut down, defunded, and stripped for parts."Nikki Budzinski urges immigration reform as cases growRep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., participates in the Congressional Postal Service Caucus news conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025.Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesBudzinski said immigration-related constituent services have become an increasingly significant part of her office’s workload. She said her office has handled 84 immigration-related cases so far this year, ranging from detention matters to broader immigration questions.Article continues below this adOne recurring challenge, she said, is obtaining privacy release forms required before congressional offices can intervene on behalf of constituents with federal agencies. This is because families often struggle to complete the paperwork once a loved one has been detained.Her suggestion now: “(We) have actually heard from some nonprofit immigrant rights organizations that it's actually smart for those that are just afraid to preemptively sign those forms and leave them in a safe place in their home,” Budzinski said “So, if something were to happen, we don't have to figure out how to get a privacy form completed through the ICE — or the CBP or ICE process."Reflecting on the visit, Budzinski characterized the experience as emotionally difficult and said it reinforced her belief that the nation’s immigration system requires reform."It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “I think we have a fundamentally broken immigration system in this country.”Article continues below this adShe argued that Congress should pursue comprehensive immigration reform that includes changes to the asylum process, investments in border security, and shorter timelines for legal immigration pathways.“I think one of the things that Congress needs to finally do is = fix our broken immigration system, and as a part of any of that — shortening the time span,” Budzinski told The Telegraph. “It takes decades for someone to legally enter this country. Fixing and reforming our asylum system, investing in border security, we should be able to do it all. And I think that is the more comprehensive way of looking at how we fix our system. But when I leave a facility like St. Genevieve, it is the most poignant reminder of how broken and failed our system is.” U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-13th Illinois Congressional District.Scott Cousins/The TelegraphJune 8, 2026Staff WriterIvy Lyons is a native of the Metro East and a media researcher covering Alton and East Alton communities for The Telegraph. Lyons joined the paper after years working in broadcast news operations across the Washington, D.C. metro area, producing media scholarship and keeping close to the communities they cover.