U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington, D.C., granted a temporary restraining order that blocks the Trump administration from preventing Congressional visits to immigration detention centers.
The TRO will remain in place pending further proceedings.
The 13 House of Representatives have challenged DHS’s policies regarding visits to the centers, including a requirement of at least seven days’ notice before such visits.
This motion concerns the January 8 memo from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, which required members of Congress to provide notice to bypass Cobb’s order blocking her June 2025 memo.
Cobb wrote (I omitted the citations):
The Court assumes familiarity with the factual and legal history of this litigation, including as discussed in the Court’s December 17, 2025, memorandum opinion and order. The Court’s prior opinion found that the seven-day notice requirement as initially announced by ICE in June 2025 was likely contrary to the terms of a limitations rider attached to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) annual appropriated funds. The rider, often referred to as Section 527, prohibits DHS from “us[ing]” appropriated funds “to prevent” Members of Congress from “entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight,” facilities “used to detain or otherwise house” noncitizens. The Court found that the June 2025 notice requirement had been “promulgated with Section 527 funds” and “continue[d] to be implemented and enforced through the use of Section 527 funds.” Accordingly, the Court issued an order under 5 U.S.C. § 705 staying the “effective date[] of implementation and enforcement” of the notice requirement.
Cobb granted the motion because he believes the plaintiffs met the four requirements, including showing a likelihood of success on the merits.
“The Court’s decision on this prong is made significantly easier given that many of the threshold issues implicated by this motion are identical to the ones addressed in the Court’s December 17 opinion and resolved in favor of the Plaintiffs,” explained Cobb. “Defendants’ argument that the standing analysis should come out differently relies on a mischaracterization of Plaintiffs’ current challenge, which like their first challenge, is premised upon the theory that the January 8, 2026, policy violates the terms of Section 527.”
On January 12, Minnesota Democratic Reps. Angie Craig, Kelly Morrison, and Ilhan Omar attempted an oversight visit to an ICE facility in Minneapolis.
DHS denied them access:
News outlets reported the three U.S. representatives were escorted past a row of federal agents, who appeared mostly masked. Craig told MS Now that ICE officials said to her that the facility was funded by the “Big Beautiful Bill,” not congressional appropriations, so members of Congress couldn’t enter the facility.
Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, cited the policy for the dismissal, stating that the three women were “out of compliance” and that the visit was improper.
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