Members of Congress Return to Court After Trump-Vance Administration Denies Access to Conduct Oversight of Immigration Detention Facilities
DHS secretly re-imposes unlawful policy and denies members of Congress access despite federal court order
Twelve members of Congress have returned to federal court after the Trump-Vance administration secretly re-imposed a policy that blocks unannounced congressional oversight of federal immigration detention facilities. The members filed a motion urgently asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to order the administration to explain how this new policy is not a violation of federal law guaranteeing members of Congress the ability to conduct oversight of ICE facilities. The court’s December order affirmed all members’ rights under federal law to conduct this oversight.
Joe Neguse et al. v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement et al. was filed in July 2025 after the Trump-Vance administration unlawfully imposed a policy requiring members of Congress to give advance notice before conducting oversight visits at immigration detention facilities, interfering with Congress’s constitutional oversight authority, and preventing lawmakers from examining conditions and government conduct as incidents of violence against detainees was on the rise.
Last month, the court preliminarily stopped DHS’s policy, affirming the rights of members to conduct unannounced visits. However, after an ICE officer shot and killed a U.S. citizen last week, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem quietly signed a new memorandum reinstating the same seven-day notice requirement. The existence of the memo, which had not been shared with plaintiffs or the court, only came to light after three members of the Minnesota congressional delegation were subsequently denied access to an ICE facility in Minnesota, despite having the court order in hand.
Democracy Forward and American Oversight represent plaintiffs in this case, including Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse; Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Adriano Espaillat; Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Rep. Bennie G. Thompson; Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jamie Raskin; House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Rep. Robert Garcia; House Homeland Security Committee Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement Ranking Member Rep. J. Luis Correa; Rep. Jason Crow; Rep. Veronica Escobar; Rep. Dan Goldman; Rep. Jimmy Gomez; Rep. Raul Ruiz; and Rep. Norma Torres.
“The law is crystal-clear: the Trump administration cannot block Members of Congress from conducting real-time oversight of immigration detention facilities. Instead of complying with the law, DHS is abrogating the court’s order by re-imposing the same unlawful policy. Their actions are outrageous and subverting the law, which is why we are going back to court to challenge it — immediately,” said Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse, lead plaintiff.
“The Trump administration has now made clear that it is willing to defy both Congress and the courts to conceal conditions inside immigration detention facilities, effectively enabling — if not openly endorsing — ongoing abuse and neglect,” said our Executive Director Chioma Chukwu. “A federal court affirmed that members of Congress have a clear legal right to conduct unannounced oversight visits, yet DHS appears to have quietly resurrected the very policy the court stopped. That kind of end-run around the law undermines transparency, accountability, and the constitutional system of checks and balances. We are proud to stand with members of Congress as they demand that the administration explain their latest secrecy and obstruction.”
“What are they hiding? Why does the Trump-Vance administration continue to implement policies to block members of Congress – who represent the people and have legal obligations to conduct oversight – from accessing ICE facilities? The answer has become more and more clear: what ICE is doing is harmful and indefensible, and this administration does not want checks and balances,” said Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward. “A federal court issued an order in December preventing the Trump-Vance administration’s attempts to prevent individual members of Congress from conducting oversight, and yet Secretary Noem and DHS appear to be seeking to circumvent the court’s order. This threat to the rule of law and our system of checks and balances should concern every single American. We look forward to seeking answers in court about what the government has done here.”