ICE appeals ruling granting Neguse and other members of Congress unannounced access to detention facilities
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the seven-day notice policy was to ensure safety, but the court said no ‘concrete examples’ of safety concerns have been cited
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
A federal judge has ruled for a second time that U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement cannot limit Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colorado, or other members of Congress, from conducting unannounced oversight of immigration detention facilities.
The ruling handed down Monday blocks a U.S. Department of Homeland Security policy that required members of Congress to provide notice of a visit at least seven days in advance to be allowed into an immigration detention facility. President Donald Trump’s administration is appealing the ruling.
“Once again, a federal court has ruled to restore members of Congress’s ability to conduct essential oversight on behalf of the American people,” Neguse said in a statement.
Democratic members of Congress initially brought the lawsuit against the Trump administration in July, after ICE began enforcing the policy requiring lawmakers to provide advance notice. That month, Neguse and other lawmakers had been denied entry into an ICE field office in Washington where they had heard that people were being detained in “poor conditions,” according to the complaint filed in the lawsuit.
In December, U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb ruled in favor of the Democratic lawmakers, temporarily blocking the seven-day notice requirement. However, on Jan. 8, Noem issued a new, nearly identical policy reinstating the prior notice requirement, leading the Democratic lawmakers to seek emergency relief.
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Cobb ruled in favor of the Democratic lawmakers again Monday, overturning the policy.
In her ruling, Cobb wrote that the timing of Noem issuing a new seven-day notice policy on Jan. 8 was “perhaps not a coincidence,” since it was the day after a Department of Homeland Security shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis, an event which “focused national attention” on the department.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a memorandum that the seven-day notice policy aims “to ensure adequate protection for members of Congress, congressional staff, detainees and ICE employees alike.” Noem raised concern about “circus-like publicity stunts … which create a chaotic environment” at the facilities, according to the lawsuit.
Cobb in her decision on Monday, however, wrote that the federal government has “not cited any concrete examples of safety issues posed by congressional visits without advanced notice.”
In a statement Monday, an unnamed spokesperson for ICE said, “We strongly disagree with this ruling and will keep fighting for the safety of everyone involved.”
Neguse and the Democratic lawmakers argue in the lawsuit that the seven-days notice hinders their ability to see the “true conditions” of the detention facilities and gives ICE “time to hide unacceptable conditions” prior to lawmakers’ visits.
ICE detention levels have hit all-time highs as immigration enforcement has ramped up under the Trump administration. The number of people held in ICE detention on any given day last year increased by 75%, compared to 2024, with a record 73,000 people held in detention as of mid-January according to the American Immigration Council.
“This is yet another victory against an administration whose cruel and inhumane immigration policies have inflicted a heavy toll on communities across the nation,” Neguse said. “We will never stop standing up for transparency and accountability, and we will continue to make clear that no president or administration can bend the rule of law to their will.”
