Federal Court Rejects Homeland Security Secretary's Attempt to Limit Congressional Inspections of Immigration Detention Facilities
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's attempt to prevent Democratic members of Congress from conducting unscheduled inspections of immigration detention facilities has been rejected by a federal court. U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb ruled in favor of 13 representatives who sued Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being denied access to the facilities. Congressional appropriations bills have established that members have the right to inspect any facility at any time, but DHS tried to require a week's notice for inspections last year to potentially hide any misconduct.
During the federal government shutdown last year, Noem argued that the congressional requirement did not apply due to lack of funding. She recently made a similar argument after Democrats demanded reforms to federal immigration enforcement before continuing DHS funding, leading to an ongoing DHS-localized shutdown. Cobb's ruling stated that the restrictions on funding from Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill Act" did not justify the changes to the inspection regulation, as it violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
The court's decision has suspended the changes to the inspection regulation, emphasizing that agencies cannot operate with a "blank check" during a lapse in appropriations. This ruling upholds the rights of members of Congress to conduct inspections of immigration detention facilities without unnecessary restrictions.