Federal Judge Deals Major Blow to Kristi Noem on Oversight of ICE
A federal judge has revoked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s ability to block members of Congress from entering ICE facilities.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb ruled that Noem’s requirement that members of Congress give her a week’s notice before entering an immigration center was illegal, given that it depends on funding that Congress warned could not be used to block surveillance of lawmakers.
“The parties’ arguments on this point raise complex questions regarding the technicalities of DHS budgeting and the application of the Appropriations Act that the Court finds difficult to resolve based on this preliminary factual record,” Good wrote. “Fortunately, the Court does not need to fully consider these disputes to resolve this application, because Defendants’ proposed solution suffers from a fatal flaw: it assumes that [One Big Beautiful Bill Act] funds are available for all costs necessary to promulgate and enforce the policy.
While DHS immediately appealed, others hailed the decision as a tribute to common sense.
“Despite the Trump Administration’s unlawful attempts to prevent Members of Congress from conducting oversight visits, a federal court has just upheld in Neguse et al. v. ICE et al. – ONCE AGAIN – our clear right to conduct unannounced oversight visits,” said Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse. written the. “We will continue to fight to ensure that the rule of law prevails. »
Since President Trump returned to office last year, many Democratic politicians have been denied entry, roughed up or outright arrested while trying to enter ICE facilities.
Last May, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Representative LaMonica McIver were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement while attempting to enter Delaney Hall. Last June, Senator Alex Padilla was literally train from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles while trying to ask a question. That same month, New York City comptroller and then mayoral candidate Brad Lander was taken from the halls of a Lower Manhattan immigration court and detained by masked ICE agents.
