Judge Won’t Block DHS Policy Limiting Congress’s Ability To Oversee ICE

On Monday, a federal judge denied a request to block a policy from the Department of Homeland Security that requires a week’s notice before members of Congress visit immigration detention facilities. 

According to AP, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington, D.C., previously ruled against an earlier version of the policy. Cobb said that her decision wasn’t a ruling on the policy’s legality, but that the attorneys for the plaintiffs used the wrong “procedural vehicle” to challenge the policy. She also noted that her previous ruling doesn’t cover the new DHS policy established on Jan 8. 

“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.

Lawyers for U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison, and Angie Craig, all three Democratic Congress members from Minnesota, filed the suit earlier this month after the Congress members were blocked from entering an ICE facility three days after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good. Apparently, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem covertly signed a new version of the previously blocked policy only a day after Renee Good’s death. 

If that doesn’t scream sketchy, I don’t know what does. 

Democracy Forward, the advocacy group providing the attorneys representing the Congress members, said it was reviewing the judge’s latest order. “We will continue to use every legal tool available to stop the administration’s efforts to hide from congressional oversight,” Democracy Forward spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said in a statement. 

Democracy Forward also cited a law that bans DHS from using appropriated funds to prevent members of Congress from conducting oversight visits to ICE facilities. The advocacy group said the Trump administration has yet to provide proof that those funds aren’t being used to enforce the new DHS policy. 

It’s an understatement to say that ICE has become a major source of controversy in the wake of Renee Good’s shooting. More and more Americans are disapproving of ICE’s conduct, with the majority of people believing that the shooting was unjustified. It also doesn’t help that White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Vice President JD Vance are arguing that ICE agents are protected with “absolute immunity,” a thing that doesn’t actually exist. Despite the widespread disapproval and constant protests in Minneapolis, Noem has doubled down by sending more ICE agents to Minnesota. In fact, the Department of Justice has spent more time investigating Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Gov. Tim Walz than the ICE agent who shot Renee Good. 

The policy appears to be a blatant attempt to cover up misconduct. Especially in light of the first-person accounts that have been shared about conditions in the detention centers, the alarming number of deaths that have occurred in ICE facilities, and the fact that a former ICE agent recently pleaded guilty to repeatedly sexually abusing a detainee. If you’re doing things by the book and have nothing to hide, then there shouldn’t be a problem with Congress members arriving unannounced. 

SEE ALSO:

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Experts Sound The Alarm On New Rules For ICE Detention Center Visits