The Trump administration was temporarily blocked Monday by a judge who rejected the Department of Homeland Security's move to limit Democratic lawmakers' access to immigrant detention facilities and stop unannounced visits.
Thirteen members of the House of Representatives had presented a lawsuit to challenge Trump's DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after they were told that they needed to provide a minimum of seven days before visiting an ICE detainment center and seeing citizens and non-citizens at the locations, The Hill reported.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a President Joe Biden appointee, sided with the lawmakers — now the second time she has sided with a group of Democratic lawmakers.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem issued a memorandum requiring a seven-day notice requirement on Jan. 8, just a day after ICE agent Jonathan Ross killed 37-year-old mother Renee Good behind the wheel of her car in Minneapolis.
Noem's moved to enact the notice requirement at "facilities being funded exclusively by the 'Big Beautiful Bill' that Republicans passed last summer. That bill did not include the rider," according to The Hill.
But Cobb rejected the policy altogether. She said it would be difficult to decipher which expenses are funded by which law.
“Defendants’ declarant provides almost no details or specifics as to how DHS and ICE would accomplish this task in the face of the practical challenges raised by Plaintiffs,” Cobb wrote.
“The Court’s decision today to grant a temporary restraining order against ICE’s unlawful effort to obstruct congressional oversight is a victory for the American people. We will keep fighting to ensure the rule of law prevails,” Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO) said in a statement.
