Trump-Appointed Judge Orders DHS to Restore Lawyer Access at Minnesota ICE Site

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel, a Trump appointee, issued an emergency restraining order Thursday finding that policies and practices at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minnesota 'all but extinguish' immigration detainees’ access to counsel and violate their constitutional rights. The order, in a class-action suit targeting ICE, DHS and Secretary Kristi Noem, requires ICE to provide detained immigrants access to attorneys as soon as they are taken into custody and will remain in effect through Feb. 26. Brasel wrote that in planning Operation Metro Surge — the Trump administration’s large-scale crackdown in Minnesota — 'the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees' and rejected DHS claims that ensuring counsel access would cause 'chaos.' Axios notes Politico’s tally that this is at least the 45th ruling by a Trump-nominated judge against his mass-detention agenda, part of 373 adverse decisions since July, underscoring that even some conservative jurists are balking at the way raids and detention are being run. DHS responded in an email calling allegations of blocked access and 'subprime conditions' at Whipple 'FALSE,' insisting the site is for processing rather than long-term detention and that detainees there can quickly contact lawyers and family, leaving a sharp factual clash between the court’s findings and the department’s defense.