Federal judge denies challenge by Reps. Joe Neguse, Jason Crow to latest ICE detention visits policy

Seth Klamann, The Denver Post on Jan 19, 2026

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DENVER — A federal judge declined Monday to block a new federal policy limiting congressional visits to detention centers, rejecting an attempt by two Colorado lawmakers to challenge the Trump administration’s latest attempt to restrict oversight of the facilities.

The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Jia M. Cobb is a win for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agency has tried for months to require that members of Congress provide seven days’ notice before visiting ICE detention centers, heading off unannounced oversight visits.

The decision means that members of Congress must again give that advance notice before trying to inspect the facilities, which likely include the detention center in Aurora.

In December, the Washington, D.C.-based Cobb ruled that a prior version of the policy appeared to be unlawful, siding with Colorado’s U.S. Reps. Joe Neguse and Jason Crow. She temporarily blocked the requirement and found that ICE’s notice requirement violated a provision added to a funding bill several years ago.

ICE reestablished the visitation policy earlier this month. Neguse, Crow and 10 other congressional Democrats from other states then asked Cobb to weigh in on the new requirement last week, after three lawmakers were denied access to a Minnesota facility.

In court filings, the Department of Homeland Security — which oversees ICE — argued it wasn’t implementing the policy using the prior federal funding that included the notice requirement under law. Instead, officials told Cobb that they would use funds from the tax-and-spend bill passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in July. The law included tens of billions of dollars in new funding for ICE.

That, in turn, prompted Cobb to keep the new policy in place. She wrote that she wasn’t necessarily finding the newly established requirement lawful but said the lawmakers’ lawsuit wasn’t the proper way to challenge it. She told them they could file a new suit or amend their existing one and seek a temporary block on the policy.

Messages sent to Crow and Neguse’s offices were not immediately returned Monday afternoon.

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