A federal judge refused Monday to temporarily block the Trump administration from enforcing a policy requiring members of Congress to give a week’s notice before visiting immigration detention facilities.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington concluded 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 Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities.
Cobb stressed she wasn’t ruling on whether the new policy is lawful. Rather, she said attorneys representing several Democratic members of Congress used the wrong procedural vehicle to challenge it.
The judge emphasized in her order that she was denying the motion only because it wasn’t the proper avenue to challenge the Jan. 8 memorandum, rather than based on any finding that the policy is lawful.
The policy, first announced in June 2025, requires members of Congress to submit requests to inspect ICE facilities a minimum of seven days before making the visit. Only Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem can waive that requirement.
Democratic representatives Kelly Morrison, Ilhan Omar and Angie Craig of Minnesota were initially turned away from an ICE facility in the Minneapolis federal building, prompting the legal challenge.
Twelve other Democratic members of Congress sued in Washington to challenge ICE’s amended visitor policies after they were denied entry to detention facilities. Their lawsuit accused the Trump administration of obstructing congressional oversight of the centers during its nationwide surge in immigration enforcement operations.
Democracy Forward spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said the organization was reviewing the judge’s latest order and would continue to use every legal tool available to stop the administration’s efforts to hide from congressional oversight.
Government attorneys have said it’s merely speculative for legislators to be concerned that conditions in ICE facilities change over the course of a week. The judge rejected those arguments last month.
The ruling comes as ICE was holding roughly 66,000 individuals facing deportation in detention centers across the United States as of Nov. 30, an all-time high according to agency figures. Roughly 47% of those detainees lacked criminal records and were being held solely due to civil violations of immigration law.
