An unannounced visit. Access to every corner of the facility. What I found does not match the picture being painted in Washington press releases. And this is bigger than one county jail. It is about Missouri, and the people of this state deserve to hear the truth.
When a great deal is said publicly about how human beings are being treated, I don't form my opinion from a cable segment or a press release. I go and see for myself. That is exactly what I did at the Ste. Genevieve County Jail. And I went there for every person held inside, not only the ICE detainees but the U.S. Marshal detainees too. The humane treatment of everyone in custody matters to me deeply.
I didn't make this visit in response to anyone else's tour or press conference. I went on my own initiative, without warning, because the families of this district ask me about these detainees all the time and I owed them a firsthand answer, not a talking point borrowed from someone else.
My staff and I made our unannounced visit on June 10 so that nothing could be staged for our benefit. Sheriff Gary Stolzer and Major Jason Schott met us on no notice and gave us access to 100% of the facility. Every holding cell. The nursing stations, intake and booking, the recreational space, the cafeteria, the food preparation areas, the water stations, the attorney visitation rooms, the staff offices, the transportation garages, the vehicle inspection bays, and their employee training center. There was no curated route. We saw all of it.
What I found was a clean, orderly, professionally run facility where the staff take the safety and well-being of every detainee seriously. That is not the story Washington has been telling. So let me set the record straight.
Congressman Bell shared his video from the Ste. Genevieve County Jail. Here is Elizabeth's, recorded during her own visit. Watch both, and weigh them against the facts.
"Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski and I just toured the Ste. Genevieve County Jail, which is being used as an ICE detention center. People deserve so much better than how they're being treated at these facilities."
Watch on Facebook →Her own footage from inside the facility on June 10. No press office and no narration. Just what she saw.
"There was nothing 'deplorable' or 'disgusting' about the way any detainee was being treated, and any characterization of such treatment is patently false and untrue."— Elizabeth Sparks-Holmes
Not impressions from a guided tour. Direct observations from full, unrestricted access.
The ICE detainees were not housed with U.S. Marshal prisoners. They were separated into their own holding cell.
Full access to food, water, electronic tablets, and dedicated attorney visitation space, all observed firsthand.
Not one but two in-house notary publics were available to detainees for legal and personal paperwork.
The cleanliness and orderliness were exceptional. Frankly, the gold standard other detention centers should aim for.
Sheriff Stolzer and Major Schott were extraordinarily generous with their time and opened the entire facility to us. The areas we were shown included:
Some of what has been said publicly is not a matter of interpretation. It is simply false, and it should be corrected.
That a holding cell, ICE or otherwise, held as many as 48 detainees.
"The suggestion that any holding cell contained 48 detainees is 100% totally false and should be retracted immediately."
That detainees at this facility are being treated "like animals."
"To suggest anyone in this jail is being treated 'like animals' is an egregious falsehood, and Congressman Bell should apologize at once."
I want to be fair and precise about what I can and cannot say. Neither Congressman Bell nor I can legally classify these ICE detainees as asylum seekers, because neither of us has access to their legal records, so I won't pretend otherwise. Out of respect for the facility's operations, I also won't disclose the number of detainees present. But I can speak to what I saw with my own eyes, and what I saw was a facility meeting its obligations to the people in its care.
Congressman Bell understands, better than most, the danger and the challenges our law enforcement officers face in the St. Louis region. I would simply ask that he show the fine men and women of Ste. Genevieve County law enforcement the same respect, and that he never say anything that jeopardizes their safety or their good name while they serve the public.
Elizabeth answers the questions reporters and constituents are asking about what she saw.
The purpose of my visit was simple: I wanted to see for myself the conditions and treatment of ICE detainees, because I am asked about their safety and well-being all the time on the campaign trail. I don't form opinions on things I haven't seen, so my staff and I made an unannounced visit, in person, not through someone else's press release, and with nothing staged for us.
And I want to be clear: my concern is for every person held there, not only the ICE detainees but the U.S. Marshal detainees as well. The humane treatment of everyone in custody is an issue close to my heart.
Sheriff Stolzer and Major Schott gave us access to 100% of the facility. Every holding cell. The nursing stations, intake and booking, the recreational space, the cafeteria, the food preparation areas, the water stations, the attorney visitation rooms, the staff offices, the transportation garages, the vehicle inspection and repair buildings, even their employee training center.
There was no curated route designed to keep us away from anything. We saw all of it, and we saw it on no notice.
The cleanliness and orderliness were exceptional. Frankly, it should be the gold standard for detention centers across the state. My husband, Creighton, came with me and was just as impressed by the extraordinary effort that goes into keeping the entire facility, inside and out, clean and safe.
The staff were professional, warm, open, and completely transparent. You could see immediately the seriousness with which they take the safety, security, and well-being of everyone in their custody.
Let me be precise about what I can and cannot say. Neither Congressman Bell nor I can legally classify these ICE detainees as asylum seekers, because neither of us has access to their legal records. And out of respect for the facility, I won't disclose how many were present.
What I can speak to is the conditions themselves. The ICE detainees were not housed with U.S. Marshal prisoners; they were separated into their own holding cell, with full access to food, water, electronic tablets, attorney visitation space, and not one but two in-house notary publics. Those are facts I am willing to stand behind.
They answered everything. There was no defensiveness and no hesitation, and no door stayed closed to us. When we asked a question, we got an answer, and more often than not they simply showed us. That kind of openness, especially on a visit they had no time to prepare for, is not how a place behaves when it has something to hide.
The core functions of a safe, secure, and humane facility were operating as they should: the separation of populations, access to food and water, the medical nursing stations, the attorney spaces, the notaries on site, the cleanliness, and the training of staff.
The people who work there are doing a serious and difficult job, and they are doing it well.
I won't pretend any large detention system is beyond improvement. None is, and ongoing oversight is exactly why visits like this matter. Communication between detainees, staff, and the federal agencies involved should always be reviewed and strengthened.
But the single most valuable thing a facility can do is keep its doors open to scrutiny, the way Ste. Genevieve did for us on no notice. That is the right kind of oversight: grounded in what is actually there, not in what makes the best headline.
Here I have to be direct. The suggestion that any holding cell at this facility, ICE or otherwise, held 48 detainees is 100% false and should be retracted immediately. And to suggest anyone in this jail is being treated "like animals" is an egregious falsehood.
There was nothing "deplorable" or "disgusting" about how any detainee was treated, and any characterization to that effect is patently untrue. I saw it with my own eyes. Congressman Bell owes the men and women of Ste. Genevieve County law enforcement an apology, and he should issue it at once.
That a brief, structured walkthrough is not the same as the truth, and that the loudest description is not automatically the accurate one. Conditions inside a secure facility are complicated. You cannot honestly sum them up from an isolated anecdote or a quick photo op.
I went in unannounced, I saw the whole facility, and what I found bore no resemblance to the picture that has been painted publicly.
I wish every city and county detention center in Missouri could be as clean, as safe, and as well run as Ste. Genevieve. I'm grateful to Sheriff Stolzer and Major Schott for the unprecedented access, and prouder still of the dedication of their employees in providing safe and secure custody of all of their residents.
Oversight should be about facts over framing, accountability over rhetoric, and real improvement over political messaging. That is the standard I will hold myself to in Congress.
If you believe oversight should be grounded in what's real, not in what makes the best headline, join the campaign to send a representative who does her homework to Washington.