A US federal judge ruled on Monday for the third time that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cannot bar members of Congress from making unannounced visits to ICE detention facilities.

Judge Jia Cobb of US District Court for the District of Columbia authored the opinion, which came in response to a policy announced in January by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem that required members of Congress to provide a seven-day notice before visiting ICE facilities.

Eight House of Representative members brought the suit, arguing that the appropriations rider attached to DHS funds prohibits “‘using’ appropriated funds ‘to prevent’ members of Congress from ‘entering, for the purpose of conducting oversight,’ specific DHS facilities.” Plaintiffs claimed that this phrase barred DHS from imposing the policy.

Secretary Noem countered that the policy is supported by funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which does not impose the same restriction.

Judge Cobb ruled for the plaintiffs on the basis of prior judicial opinions, stating:

If DHS is concerned about “circus-like publicity stunts,” a notice requirement does not prevent those—a publicity stunt can still happen after a seven-day delay. Defendants’ claim of irreparable harm from the Court’s decision in this case is also undermined by Defendants’ decision not to appeal the Court’s prior opinion, which resulted in a similar outcome with respect to allowing Members’ visits to DHS facilities. As to the equitable factors, the Court has already held that they clearly favor the Plaintiffs’ stay of the challenged agency action, rather than Defendants’ stay of the Court’s order. Each factor weighs against granting Defendants a stay pending appeal.

This was the third time Judge Cobb has ruled on the DHS policy. She first blocked the policy in December after lawmakers in Minnesota were refused entry of an ICE detention facility. Lawmakers returned to the facility in January wielding Cobb’s order, and they were denied entry once again because of an updated policy–supposedly backed by the OBBBA. Judge Cobb sided with lawmakers again.

As a result of this ruling, the policy will be blocked all together, allowing members of Congress unfettered access to ICE detention facilities.