Overview
- U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb declined to temporarily block a new Department of Homeland Security policy that requires members of Congress to give a week's notice before visiting ICE detention facilities.
- Cobb said the lawmakers used the wrong procedural vehicle to challenge the Jan. 8 directive and stressed she was not ruling on whether the policy is lawful.
- The judge found the Jan. 8 memorandum to be a new agency action not covered by her December order that had signaled an earlier version of the notice rule was likely unlawful.
- DHS has argued in court that it is implementing the latest policy using funds from a July spending package rather than appropriations tied to restrictions on limiting congressional access, a position plaintiffs dispute.
- The dispute follows DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's Jan. 8 memo and incidents in Minnesota where Reps. Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison, and Angie Craig were initially denied entry, with broader oversight and funding negotiations for DHS and ICE pressing toward a Jan. 30 deadline.