Trump judge slams DHS for blocking detainees' access to lawyers
Source: msn/Axios
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A Trump-appointed federal judge said immigration enforcement agencies "violated noncitizen detainees' constitutional" rights at a Minnesota facility in a scathing ruling on Thursday.
Why it matters: U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel's ruling that "policies and practices" at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building "all but extinguish a detainee's access to counsel" marked the 45th time that a judge nominated by President Trump had ruled against his mass detention agenda, per a Politico review.
Driving the news: Brasel in the emergency restraining order ruled ICE must give detained immigrants access to attorneys as soon as they've been taken into custody.
The order that will remain in effect through Feb. 26 comes after a class-action lawsuit was filed last month against defendants including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The suit alleges that people were being detained without access to lawyers and denied confidential communication — a claim DHS rejected in a Thursday evening email following the ruling.
Zoom in: However, Brasel wrote in the ruling that the government had put in place "obstacles" at Whipple that marked "an unconstitutional infringement" of noncitizens' rights to access counsel.
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/trump-judge-slams-dhs-for-blocking-detainees-access-to-lawyers/ar-AA1WfMuQ
Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Dist.Minn_._0-26-cv-00749_95.pdf
Link to The Advocates for Human Rights PRESS RELEASE - Federal Court Orders DHS to Restore Attorney Access at Minnesota Detention Facilities
BREAKING: We won a court order requiring DHS to immediately restore meaningful access to lawyers for people detained at immigration detention centers in Minneapolis.
— Democracy Forward (@democracyforward.org) 2026-02-12T23:36:32.276666Z
Access to a lawyer is not optional; it is a fundamental right. We will keep fighting to defend it.
