Judge orders attorney inspection of Whipple ICE lockup

Immigration-rights attorneys will enter ICE’s Whipple Building detention area Monday morning under a court order from Judge Nancy Brasel, but they’ve returned to court saying DHS is trying to block them from bringing phones or cameras and from speaking with detainees. The inspection stems from a lawsuit by The Advocates for Human Rights and a St. Paul asylum seeker alleging Operation Metro Surge has sharply limited detainees’ access to lawyers at Whipple, despite ICE having attorney-visit rooms that were used in years past. Government lawyers argue detainees can make free legal calls and that the law doesn’t guarantee 'unfettered' in-person access, noting most people are moved out of Whipple within 24 hours. The dispute comes after weeks of congressional clashes over access to the same facility, with Minnesota’s delegation initially turned away and later allowed in only under tight conditions, and after Rep. Kelly Morrison likened conditions there to a 'third-world prison.' For Twin Cities residents, this inspection fight is a direct test of whether anyone outside ICE will be allowed to independently document what’s happening inside the metro’s central immigration jail during the federal surge.