Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., accused the Trump administration of obstructing congressional oversight after she and other Minnesota lawmakers were asked to leave an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Minneapolis under a new policy requiring advance notice for detention-center visits.
A federal judge on Monday declined to immediately block the administration from enforcing a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memorandum dated Jan. 8, 2026, which requires members of Congress to provide seven days’ notice before visiting immigration detention facilities.
The decision from U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb in Washington, D.C., follows an incident on Saturday, Jan. 10, when Omar said she, Rep. Kelly Morrison and Rep. Angie Craig were turned away from an ICE facility in the Minneapolis federal building after being informed of the new rule.
Attorneys representing several Democratic members of Congress asked Cobb to intervene, but she ruled that the lawmakers used the wrong “procedural vehicle” to challenge the policy. Cobb also found the Jan. 8 memorandum to be a new DHS action that is not covered by her earlier order that had temporarily restrained a different notice requirement.
“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,” Cobb wrote.
Last month, Cobb temporarily blocked an earlier administration policy affecting oversight visits. In a Dec. 17 ruling, she said it was likely illegal for ICE to demand a week’s notice from members of Congress seeking to visit and observe conditions in ICE facilities.
The Associated Press reported that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem signed a new memorandum reinstating the seven-day notice requirement. Plaintiffs’ lawyers from the Democracy Forward legal advocacy group said DHS did not disclose the latest policy until after Omar, Morrison and Craig were turned away from the Minneapolis facility.
Democracy Forward spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said the group was reviewing the judge’s latest order.
“We will continue to use every legal tool available to stop the administration’s efforts to hide from congressional oversight,” she said in a statement to the AP.
House Democrats earlier this month asked the judge to block Noem’s directive, arguing the policy is politically motivated and violates federal spending law and a prior court stay.
Democrats have challenged the seven-day notice requirement by citing Section 527, a federal spending law provision that prohibits DHS from using appropriated funds to prevent congressional access to ICE detention facilities.
In December, Cobb temporarily stayed DHS restrictions from taking effect “[u]nless and until Defendants show that no Section 527 funds are being used for these purposes.”
Plaintiffs’ attorneys from the Democracy Forward Foundation said the administration has not shown that none of those funds are being used to implement the latest notice policy.
A Justice Department attorney, Amber Richer, argued that the Jan. 8 policy signed by Noem is distinct from the policies Cobb suspended last month, according to the AP.
