Democrat Rep. Wilson urges people to call, threaten lawmakers over uptick in illegal immigration detentions

U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., urged people to call and threaten congressional lawmakers over the Trump administration's immigration policies following a visit to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Wilson visited ICE Krome Detention Center in Miami before holding a news conference on Instagram Live.

"So I've been giving out the phone numbers to the House of Representatives and to the Senate," she said. "It's one number that number you call and you threaten it, and you say, this is wrong. This is not America. This is not what we stand for. We need a change. You have to do that. It's going to take the people. We've done it."

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Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., on Thursday blamed the Trump administration and the passing of the Laken Riley Act for a sharp increase in illegal migrant detentions. (Getty Images)

"We need the people. We needed an uprising where people are taking to the streets and the phones and writing letters. That's what we need," she added. 

Before going into the ICE facility, Wilson said she expected to see criminals with "cases tattooed with gold teeth."

"I wanted to see where were these dangerous people that they had picked up off the street and put them in a detention center," the representative said. "I didn't see that. I saw hard working men. Some more literate than others. I even saw some who are mentally disturbed and have mental issues."

Wilson, who has feuded with President Donald Trump in the past, also blamed the Laken Riley Act for the increase in migrant detentions. 

Trump signed the bill into law days after taking office. It directs ICE to detain illegal immigrants arrested or charged with theft-related crimes, or those accused of assaulting a police officer.

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The law also allows states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration.

The bill was named after Riley, a nursing student who was killed while jogging on the University of Georgia campus by an illegal immigrant. Jose Ibarra, who had previously been arrested but never detained by ICE, was sentenced to life in prison for the killing. 

"The Laken Riley Act has caused an increase in detainees, and these are people who have... you could have been here forever," said Wilson, who said that illegal migrants can get arrested "walking across the street, jaywalking, or shoplifting, they will detain you and bring you right here."

University of Georgia murder suspect Jose Ibarra lived within a five-minute walk of the approximate scene where he allegedly murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley on Feb. 22. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital/ Laken Riley/ Jose Ibarra)

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Wilson's offices in Washington and Florida.