Trump administration again restricts when members of Congress can inspect ICE facilities
Source: CBS News
Updated on: January 11, 2026 / 9:46 AM EST
The Department of Homeland Security has again required members of Congress to give prior notice before inspecting immigration detention facilities, issuing a new policy to bypass a court order that had blocked officials from restricting such oversight visits. The new policy, dated Jan. 8 and submitted Saturday in federal court, says members of Congress need to schedule any visits to Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities 7 days in advance. Any exemptions to the rule have to be approved by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who signed the new memo.
Over the weekend, Democratic Minnesota Representatives Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig and Kelly Morrison said they were denied entry into an ICE facility in Minneapolis. Tensions there have escalated after an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good on Wednesday. Trump administration officials have said the officer acted in self-defense, a claim rejected by local leaders.
In December, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. blocked an identical DHS policy that required members of Congress to submit requests at least 7 days in advance of visiting facilities holding those facing deportation in ICE custody. Before that policy, issued in June, ICE had historically allowed members of Congress to visit its detention facilities, without prior notice.
The December court ruling cited language in appropriations law that prohibits DHS from using funds to prevent members of Congress from conducting oversight visits to ICE detention centers, or from requiring those lawmakers to "provide prior notice of the intent to enter" such facilities. But in her new memo, Noem ordered DHS to again implement the 7-day notice requirement "exclusively with money appropriated by the (One Big Beautiful Bill Act)," not regular appropriations.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-facilities-homeland-security-lawmakers-visit-inspections/
Every last ONE of them should be sanctioned, stripped of law licenses, and thrown in prison for violations of court orders.
REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143596561
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