A federal judge has again ruled to require the Department of Homeland Security to let members of Congress make unannounced visits to ICE detention centers.
This case dates back to last summer, when DHS first released a memo requiring lawmakers to give a week’s notice before visiting ICE facilities.
A dozen lawmakers filed suit, arguing the new rule went against statute requiring unannounced access to facilities for oversight. A judge agreed and the memo was struck down.
But earlier this year, DHS released a nearly identical document with the same week-long rule, arguing it was not subject to the statute requiring oversight because ICE facilities would funding allocated to the agency through the Big, Beautiful Bill Act.
In an order this week, District Judge Jia Cobb ruled to block the new memo on the grounds that plaintiffs had standing to bring the case and ICE facilities would likely still need to use congressionally appropriated funds, which are subject to the statute requiring oversight access.
A DHS spokesperson said the agency disagreed with the new ruling and called the seven-day notice requirement a "commonsense measure to ensure the safety of staff, law enforcement, visitors, and detainees alike."
The spokesperson did not say whether the administration would appeal the order.
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The ruling comes a day after news broke of the government’s plan to offer legal aid to detained immigrant children through a $150 million contract Burke Law Group — a small Texas-based firm with a co-founder who is a former Trump appointee. -
A notice posted on the Federal Register this week details a $150 million government contract with Burke Law Group to represent unaccompanied immigrant children. A multimillion-dollar contact with nonprofits across the country to do the work expired Friday. -
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is supposed to help people during disasters like floods and fires. But a new report finds the Trump administration diverted FEMA staff at key times to do something very different — help ICE in immigration enforcement. -
The DACA program turned 14 this year. The Obama-era initiative is supposed to give some undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children a work permit and temporary protection from deportation. But community members say that’s no longer the case under President Donald Trump. -
Some 20,000 children alone in the US receive legal aid through the contract — part of a federal program established by Congress almost two decades ago. The contract to do that work expires July 31.
