As protests over federal immigration sweeps entered a fifth day in Southern California, Democrats and Republicans representing California in Congress have responded in different ways.

Democrats are demanding answers as to why they’ve been denied entry into federal detention centers, despite the law granting them access.

GOP House members, on the other hand, have condemned the ongoing violence and looting by some protesters and called for an investigation into the Los Angeles Police Department’s response time.

Over the past few days, several Democratic House members from L.A. and Orange counties attempted to visit local federal detention centers, saying they wanted to see the conditions that those detained by the Department of Homeland Security are living in. They said they have heard reports of alleged “inhumane” conditions, such as being placed in basement holding cells for up to 24 hours without food, water or sunlight.

As members of Congress, these elected officials are allowed to enter DHS facilities to conduct oversight. They do not need to provide advance notice, according to guidelines on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website.

But Rep. Jimmy Gomez of Los Angeles posted on social media that he and fellow Democratic Reps. Luz Rivas of Pacoima, Norma Torres of Pomona and Lou Correa of Santa Ana were denied entrance to a facility in downtown L.A. on Saturday.

Gomez returned to the site on Monday, but was “denied again,” according to an Instagram post.

Gomez also wrote to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday, stating that denying members of Congress entry is “a direct violation of federal law.”

In his letter, Gomez demanded immediate access to the downtown L.A. federal facility for members of Congress, a written explanation from Noem’s office regarding who authorized the denial of entry and on what grounds, and for DHS to fully comply with the law at every DHS facility in the country.

A DHS spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, June 10, about Gomez’s letter and the various accounts by legislators that they were prohibited from entering detention centers this past weekend.

Reps. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena; Gil Cisneros, D-Covina and Derek Tran, D-Orange, said they were met with padlocks when they went to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in the high desert over the weekend.

Chu, who had returned to Washington, D.C., by early this week, said in an interview Monday that she would try again to enter the facility at a later date.

“It was unlawful for them to do this to us,” she said about the denial of entry by DHS personnel.

Republicans, meanwhile, are criticizing the response by the city of Los Angeles and state of California to days of protests that at times have turned violent, with agitators setting vehicles on fire and throwing concrete and other objects at law enforcement agents.

Republicans have described the incidents as “riots” or “insurrections.” Democrats have pushed back on such forceful language, though they’ve acknowledged that there have been acts of looting, vandalism and other disturbances.

On Tuesday, Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim Hills, introduced a resolution condemning “riots” in L.A. The resolution was signed by every GOP House member from California, including Reps. Ken Calvert of Corona, Darrell Issa of Bonsall and Jay Obernolte of Hesperia.

The resolution said protests began in response to “lawful federal immigration enforcement actions” and “quickly escalated into violent riots across Los Angeles.” It states that some agitators set off fireworks, threw Molotov cocktails at officers and assaulted federal agents and burned American flags.

“Local and state leadership failed to contain the rapidly escalating disorder, failing to support overwhelmed law enforcement personnel,” the resolution states.

It went on to say that the House of Representatives recognizes the right to protest peacefully but “condemns unequivocally the violence perpetrated against federal, state, and local law enforcement” and called on local and state elected leaders to “work with the federal government to end the violent riots and restore peace.”

“Peaceful protests are a constitutional right, but vandalism, looting, violence, and other crimes are not. Protecting public safety shouldn’t be controversial, which is why I am leading the California Republican delegation in a resolution to support law and order as we continue to see unrest,” Kim, whose district covers parts of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, said in a statement.

“I hope Governor Newsom can come together with President Trump to stop the riots, lower the temperature, and keep our communities safe,” she added.

Also Tuesday, Issa, who represents parts of Riverside and San Diego counties, called for a “full and complete congressional investigation” the Department of Homeland Security said it took the Los Angeles Police Department two hours to respond on Friday after some demonstrators assaulted ICE officers.

“We need to know if the political leadership of the city of Los Angeles, the state of California, or anyone else instructed the LAPD to stand down and not respond to the emergency requests of our ICE agents who were under attack by rioters determined to block them, burn them, or even kill them as they bravely carried out their sworn duties,” Issa said in a statement.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell has denied it took his department two hours to respond.

“When we heard that, I think anybody who’s a police officer couldn’t believe it, and certainly anyone with LAPD couldn’t imagine how that would happen. Well, it didn’t happen,” he said during a Sunday press conference.

McDonnell said LAPD was not given advance notice that a federal operation would occur in that area of the city so its officers weren’t pre-positioned there. Once the department received a call for assistance, LAPD officers responded within 38 minutes, he said, noting that delays were caused by traffic and crowds in the area, as well as “hazardous conditions” resulting from tear gas that federal agents had previously deployed.

“At no point did LAPD ignore or intentionally delay any request for help,” McDonnell said.

Staff writer Steve Scauzillo contributed to this report.