Court Upholds Immigration Agency’s Restrictions on Legislative Oversight

A federal court refused to block the administration from enforcing a new policy requiring members of the legislature to give a week’s notice before visiting immigration detention facilities.

The ruling from District Judge Jia Cobb in the capital comes after a senior lawmaker from the opposition party said she and other regional representatives were expelled from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in a northern city on Saturday, Jan. 10. They were reportedly asked to leave the facility after being informed about the administration’s rule governing lawmaker visits.

Attorneys representing several opposition party members of the legislature asked the court to intervene, but the judge ruled Monday that they used the wrong “procedural vehicle” to challenge the policy. The judge also concluded that the Jan. 8 directive is a new Department of Homeland Security action that isn’t subject to her prior order in the plaintiffs’ favor.

“The Court emphasizes that it denies Plaintiffs’ motion only because it is not the proper avenue to challenge Defendants’ January 8, 2026, memorandum and the policy stated therein, rather than based on any kind of finding that the policy is lawful,” the judge wrote.

Last month, the same judge had temporarily blocked an administration oversight visit policy. She ruled on Dec. 17 that it is likely illegal for the immigration agency to demand a week’s notice from members of the legislature seeking to visit and observe conditions in detention facilities.

A day after a detainee’s death in the northern region, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary quietly signed a new memorandum reinstating another seven-day notice requirement, according to observers familiar with the matter.

Attorneys from a legal advocacy group said the department didn’t disclose the latest policy until after three opposition lawmakers were turned away from a detention facility in a federal building.

A spokesperson for the advocacy group said they were reviewing the judge’s latest order.

“We will continue to use every legal tool available to stop the administration’s efforts to hide from legislative oversight,” she said in a statement.

Opposition party members of the lower chamber had asked the judge earlier this month to block the new directive requiring advance notice for legislative oversight visits to detention facilities, arguing in a court filing that the policy is politically motivated and violates federal spending law and a prior court stay.

Last year, opposition lawmakers had sued to block the seven-day notice requirement, arguing that the restrictions on detention centers violate a federal spending law provision that prohibits the homeland security department from using appropriated funds to prevent legislative access to these facilities.

In December, the judge temporarily stayed the department’s restrictions from taking force “unless and until Defendants show that no [relevant] funds are being used for these purposes.”

Plaintiffs’ attorneys from the advocacy foundation said the administration hasn’t shown that none of those funds are being used to implement the latest notice policy.

A government attorney said the Jan. 8 policy signed by the department head is distinct from the policies that the court suspended last month, according to reports.

The dispute reflects ongoing tensions between the executive branch and legislative oversight bodies over access to immigration detention facilities, a pattern that has persisted across multiple administrations in the country’s complex federal system.