Washington DC - A federal judge on Monday blocked President Donald Trump's latest attempt to ban members of Congress from visiting and observing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention camps.

US District Judge Jia Cobb blocked the Department of Homeland Security from reviving a policy that barred politicians from making unannounced visits to its immigration detention facilities.

The policy, which mandated that visits be requested seven days ahead of time, had previously been blocked by Cobb in December, but the Trump administration was attempting to push it through using a funding technicality.

"At least some of these resources that either have been or will be used to promulgate and enforce the notice policy have already been funded and paid for with restricted annual appropriations funds," Cobb wrote in Monday's ruling.

Cobb had originally blocked the policy both on the basis that members of Congress have the authority to conduct oversight and that the administration process would have used funding earmarked for immigration enforcement, not the general budget.

Her ruling came as a result of a lawsuit filed by House Democrats in July, which alleged that members of Congress are being blocked from exercising their legally protected right of oversight.

"Real-time, on-the-ground visits to immigration detention facilities help prevent abuses and ensure transparency," the lawmakers said after December's ruling.

The push for increased oversight of DHS facilities comes amid a rapid escalation of deaths in custody over the first month of 2026 and widespread allegations of violence, abuse, and poor conditions in immigration detention facilities.

The first ten days of 2026 alone saw a record number of migrants die in detention. One such death in Texas has since been ruled a homicide by a medical examiner.