D.C. Circuit Unanimously Rejects DHS Bid to Enforce 7-Day Notice Requirement for Congressional Visits to ICE Detention Facilities

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously rejected the Trump administration's emergency motion on May 8, 2026, declining to allow DHS to enforce a seven-day advance notice requirement for Congressional visits to immigration detention facilities while the administration appeals a lower court order. The ruling ensures that members of Congress retain the right to conduct unannounced oversight visits to ICE detention centers and short-term holding facilities. The spending law governing ICE explicitly requires that members of Congress be given access whenever they request it; DHS had sought to impose new rules requiring at least one week's notice as a procedural barrier to oversight visits. The D.C. Circuit panel, which included Judge Neomi Rao (a Trump appointee), noted that while the case presented a 'close call' on the legal standing question and indicated the government might succeed on appeal on that threshold issue, the administration had not met its burden to demonstrate 'irreparable injury' from the lower court's order blocking the 7-day notice policy. The ruling is a significant win for Congressional oversight as the FY2026 death toll in ICE custody continues to mount (30+) and multiple oversight visits have already exposed overcrowding and substandard conditions — including at the Mesa Gateway, Arizona facility where ICE moved detainees out before a Congressional visit and returned them afterward. House Judiciary Committee Democrats and advocates for detained immigrants hailed the decision.