Overview
- U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb temporarily blocked DHS’s seven-day notice requirement for members of Congress seeking to inspect ICE detention facilities.
- Her order said the lawmakers are likely to show the rule is illegal and beyond DHS’s authority, imposes irreparable harm by curbing timely oversight, and lacks concrete safety justification.
- Thirteen House Democrats sued over a Jan. 8 directive issued by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that reinstated the notice rule.
- Cobb had enjoined a similar policy in December; plaintiffs say DHS revived it after the Minneapolis shooting of Renee Good, when three Minnesota Democrats were initially turned away from an ICE facility.
- The court rejected DHS’s funding defense, concluding the Office of the Secretary operated in excepted status during a funding lapse rather than using OBBBA funds, and it suspended the change under the Administrative Procedure Act.