A federal court has pulled up U.S. immigration authorities for what it described as a near-total breakdown of detainees’ access to lawyers during a recent enforcement sweep in Minnesota.
In a sharply worded order, U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to halt rapid out-of-state transfers and ensure meaningful access to attorneys. The temporary order will remain in effect for 14 days as the case proceeds.
The dispute centers on “Operation Metro Surge,” a large-scale enforcement drive that saw thousands detained. According to the ruling, many were held at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis before being swiftly moved elsewhere — often without notice to families or legal representatives.
Judge Brasel found that these rapid transfers, coupled with restricted and inadequate phone access, “all but extinguished” detainees’ ability to consult counsel. While ICE maintained it does not bar access to lawyers and does not contest detainees’ constitutional rights, the court concluded that the practical reality told a different story.
The lawsuit was filed by Democracy Forward on behalf of noncitizen detainees. The group alleged that individuals were shackled, shuffled across state lines without warning, and left without meaningful avenues to contact legal representation.
In court filings, the government argued that detainees had access to telephones and denied claims of overcrowding at the Minneapolis processing facility. But the judge was unconvinced. She noted that while substantial resources were deployed to carry out arrests and house detainees, the same urgency was not evident when it came to safeguarding constitutional protections.
Evidence presented in the case painted a stark picture. Some detainees were transferred so quickly and so frequently that their whereabouts became difficult to track. Phone access, where available, was limited — sometimes conducted in public areas within earshot of officers and other detainees. In certain facilities, ICE allegedly failed to provide basic contact information for attorneys when requested.
One account detailed a 20-year-old asylum seeker with a valid government-issued work permit who was moved from Minnesota to Texas and then to New Mexico before being returned. At one detention center, 72 detainees reportedly shared two flip phones, each allowed no more than two minutes per call. The individual was ultimately released after 18 days — despite a court directive ordering release after five — and was never given a clear explanation for either the detention or the delay.
Judge Brasel characterized the government’s explanations as thin and unsupported when weighed against the detailed accounts provided by detainees. The Constitution’s guarantee of access to counsel, she emphasized, cannot be sidelined by logistical strain or administrative convenience.
For now, ICE must pause rapid transfers out of Minnesota and provide for private attorney visits and confidential phone calls — a judicial reminder that enforcement power does not eclipse fundamental rights.
