By Jackie Crea

Congressmen Scott Peters and Juan Vargas, both Democrats, announced they had sought to investigate reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees had been held for days underground in the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Courthouse basement in downtown San Diego. But they said the Trump administration denied them access on Monday.

Peters and Vargas said their offices gave notice of their plan but were still turned away.

Ruth Mendez, a volunteer with San Diego immigrant and refugee advocacy group Detention Resistance, told NBC 7 she has received reports of poor treatment, too.

“Calling a family member or attorney is incredibly hard,” she said. “And they’re expected to not question why they’ve been detained.”

Mendez helps people or families of those who have been detained by ICE hopefully get their due process. But recently, she noticed a change.

“We’ve had heard that people are being held in these places often longer than they should be,” Mendez said.

Peters and Vargas also heard these stories. At a press conference, Vargas mentioned overcrowding as one of the most common complaints.

“Normally, when you go to a facility, you can ask, you know, 'How many people you have detained? What are their ages? Are they family members?' They wouldn’t give us any information whatsoever,” the congressman said.

Both congressmen said they plan to go back and intend to inspect the basement of the federal courthouse.

“They told us they were going to be picking up violent criminals and making our community safer. That’s not what we’ve seen. We’ve seen them take dishwashers and bus boys and people cleaning up in retirement homes. People who make our communities better,” Peters said.

As of Monday evening, ICE has not returned NBC 7’s request for comment.