A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration for a second time from enforcing a policy requiring members of Congress to give seven days’ notice before visiting immigration detention facilities, finding the government’s revised restriction still likely violates federal law.

US District Judge Jia M. Cobb granted a temporary restraining order to 14 House Democrats who sued to challenge the policy.

Federal law passed annually since 2019 has prohibited the Department of Homeland Security from using appropriated funds to block lawmakers from conducting unannounced oversight visits to immigration detention facilities. Congress enacted the provision after lawmakers were repeatedly blocked from entering detention facilities in 2018 while trying to investigate conditions during the first Trump administration’s family separation policy.

Despite that restriction, ICE began requiring seven days’ notice last June. A group of House Democrats sued, and Cobb stayed the policy in December, finding the notice requirement “prevents” congressional oversight. The administration reimposed the same requirement three weeks later, with Noem claiming it would be funded exclusively through a reconciliation bill not subject to the restriction.

Lawmakers only discovered the new policy existed after three Minnesota representatives were denied entry on January 10 to a federal building outside Minneapolis where detainees were being held. The representatives had sought to investigate conditions at the facility amid a massive immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities during which federal agents fatally shot two US citizens: Renee Good on January 7 and Alex Pretti on January 24.

Following Monday’s ruling, the plaintiffs issued a joint statement in which they described the Trump administration’s immigration opacity as an “affront to the rule of law,” saying:

The Trump administration is using billions of taxpayer dollars to carry out a violent and lawless immigration agenda with virtually no transparency or accountability. This is not only deeply dangerous — it is an affront to the rule of law and to our constitutional duty as Members of Congress. 2025 marked the deadliest year for those in ICE custody in more than two decades, with record detentions and mounting reports of abuse and inhumane conditions. We can’t turn a blind eye. We are returning to court to restore congressional oversight and hold this administration accountable to the American people.

The judge found evidence that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s attempt to fund the policy exclusively through reconciliation act money, rather than annual appropriations subject to the congressional oversight restriction, was likely inadequate.

The restraining order expires in 14 days. Additional briefing is due Feb. 11, according to court documents.