DHS loses big in court — lawmakers can walk into ICE jails whenever they want, judge rules

Judge sides with lawmakers over ICE access

A federal judge blocked the Department of Homeland Security from forcing members of Congress to give a week’s notice before visiting ICE detention facilities.

U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb issued the ruling on March 2, finding the policy likely breaks a federal law that guarantees lawmakers unannounced access.

The order stays in place until the lawsuit, led by Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado and 12 other House Democrats, wraps up.

Federal law protects unannounced visits

The rule at the heart of this case is Section 527 of the DHS appropriations law.

It says DHS cannot use its funding to stop members of Congress from showing up at immigration detention facilities without warning. Congress has included that language in every DHS spending bill since 2019.

The law also bars DHS from making quick changes to facilities that would hide what a visiting lawmaker might see. Staff members must give 24 hours’ notice, but lawmakers themselves do not.

DHS first imposed the rule in 2025

DHS rolled out the seven-day notice rule in mid-2025. Twelve House Democrats sued that July, arguing the policy violated Section 527.

Judge Cobb agreed and blocked it on Dec. 17, 2025. That didn’t end it.

Secretary Kristi Noem issued a new version of the policy on Jan. 8, 2026, with nearly the same rules. The back-and-forth set the stage for a third round in court.

ICE turned away three lawmakers in Minnesota

The day after Noem’s new policy dropped, three Minnesota lawmakers showed up at an ICE facility near Minneapolis. They brought a printout of the court’s December order.

ICE officials turned them away anyway. The visit came after a federal agent fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, during an immigration enforcement operation in the city.

Rep. Kelly Morrison later joined the lawsuit after she was denied access.

DHS tried a funding workaround

Noem’s January policy tried a new angle. DHS claimed it would only use money from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to enforce the notice rule, not regular appropriations.

The OBBBA gave DHS tens of billions in extra funding for immigration enforcement. Because those funds came from a separate law, DHS argued Section 527 didn’t apply.

Judge Cobb rejected that argument.

The judge found the workaround fell short

Cobb found it highly likely that restricted annual funds still paid for the policy.

She pointed out that the DHS and ICE employees who wrote and enforced the January rule drew their salaries from those restricted funds.

She also noted DHS had not given a single concrete example of a safety problem caused by an unannounced visit. Even a well-funded agency, Cobb wrote, must follow the spending limits Congress sets.

Courts have blocked this policy three times

This marks the third time Cobb has struck down a version of the notice policy. The first block came in December 2025 against the original rule.

The second came on Feb. 2, 2026, as a temporary restraining order against Noem’s January rewrite. The March 2 ruling carries more weight.

It stays in effect through the end of the lawsuit, giving it a longer shelf life than the earlier orders.

Trump administration takes the fight higher

The Department of Justice filed an appeal shortly after the ruling.

The case now goes to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and no decision has come down yet.

DHS also tried another angle during a February funding lapse, arguing that Section 527 no longer applied because appropriations had expired. Cobb rejected that argument too.

Thirteen House Democrats brought the case

The lawsuit includes 13 House Democrats. Along with Neguse, the plaintiffs are Reps. Jamie Raskin, Bennie Thompson, Robert Garcia, Adriano Espaillat, Jason Crow, Veronica Escobar, Dan Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, J. Luis Correa, Raul Ruiz, Norma Torres, and Kelly Morrison.

Democracy Forward Foundation and American Oversight represent the group. Morrison joined after ICE denied her access at the Minnesota facility.

Ruling lands during a DHS shutdown

The decision came during a partial DHS government shutdown that started Feb. 14. Senate Democrats refused to fund DHS without reforms to immigration enforcement operations.

Even so, more than 90% of the department’s 272,000 employees kept working through the shutdown.

The fight over congressional access fits into a larger clash between Congress and the executive branch over who gets to oversee immigration detention.

Lawmakers can now visit without notice

For now, members of Congress can visit ICE detention facilities without giving advance notice. The D.C. Circuit appeal could change that.

DHS has issued three versions of the notice policy after each court loss, so whether the agency tries a fourth remains an open question.

The case could also set a precedent for how future administrations handle congressional access to federal facilities.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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