Judge allows DHS to require Congress members give notice before visiting ICE detention centers

A federal judge allowed the Department of Homeland Security to require Congress members to give a week’s notice before visiting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers.On Monday, U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee, ruled that the Department of Homeland Security didn’t violate an earlier court order when it reimposed a seven-day notice requirement for congressional oversight visits to ICE facilities, The Associated Press reported.
Cobb noted that she wasn’t ruling on the policy’s merits, but that the attorneys representing several Democratic Congress members used the wrong “procedural vehicle” to challenge it. She also concluded that the Jan. 8 DHS policy is a new agency action that isn’t subject to her prior order in the Democrats’ favor.
The day after an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued the order requiring Congress members to give a week’s notice before visiting ICE detention centers. Two days after the order was quietly issued, Minnesota Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig, and Kelly Morrison were denied entry into an ICE facility.The order cites Cobb’s ruling last month that had struck down a similar directive issued in June, noting that the judge “explicitly acknowledged” that funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act “are not subject to Section 527’s limitations,” which is the federal statute granting Congress members access to detention facilities for oversight purposes.
Noem’s new order requires congressional visits to be carried out “exclusively with money appropriated by the (One Big Beautiful Bill Act).”
On Monday, Cobb ruled that the DHS policy issued this month is similar but different from the one announced in June 2025.
“The Court emphasizes that it denies Plaintiffs’ motion only because it is not the proper avenue to challenge Defendants’ January 8, 2026 memorandum and the policy stated therein, rather than based on any kind of finding that the policy is lawful,” she wrote.
Democracy Forward spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said they were reviewing Cobb’s latest order.
“We will continue to use every legal tool available to stop the administration’s efforts to hide from congressional oversight,” Schwartz said in a statement.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys from the Democracy Forward Foundation said that the Trump administration hasn’t shown that none of the appropriated general funds are being used to implement the latest DHS policy.
“Appropriations are not a game. They are a law,” attorney Christine Coogle said during a hearing Wednesday.
Justice Department attorney Amber Richer said the new policy issued this month is distinct from the policies that Cobb suspended last month.
“This is really a challenge to a new policy,” Richer said.
Noem’s order reads: “The basis for this policy is that advance notice is necessary to ensure adequate protection for Members of Congress, congressional staff, detainees, and ICE employees alike. Unannounced visits require pulling ICE officers away from their normal duties. Moreover, there is an increasing trend of replacing legitimate oversight activities with circus-like publicity stunts, all of which creates a chaotic environment with heightened emotions.”

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