{"id":141565,"date":"2026-01-12T12:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T20:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/01\/12\/kristi-noem-will-defeat-ice-oversight-with-creative-accounting\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T12:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T20:30:11","slug":"kristi-noem-will-defeat-ice-oversight-with-creative-accounting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/01\/12\/kristi-noem-will-defeat-ice-oversight-with-creative-accounting\/","title":{"rendered":"Kristi Noem Will Defeat ICE Oversight With Creative Accounting"},"content":{"rendered":"

On January 10, Minnesota Reps. Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig, and Kelly Morrison became the latest members of Congress to be turned away when they attempted to inspect an ICE facility in Minneapolis. After first being allowed inside, they were quickly hustled off the premises<\/a> by personal edict of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.<\/p>\n

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During my visit to the Whipple Detention Center today, armed agents confronted us, ICE sprayed peaceful protesters and press with pepper spray and I was denied my legal right to conduct official oversight.This is Donald Trump\u2019s America. And I\u2019m not done fighting.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Rep. Angie Craig (@repangiecraig.bsky.social)<\/a> 2026-01-10T18:01:33.976Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

In the wake of the murder of Renee Good and in defiance of federal law and a court order, Noem has now barred members of Congress from inspecting immigration facilities without notice and her personal permission.<\/p>\n

She claims to have discovered ONE WEIRD TRICK to exclude Members of Congress from ICE facilities. It\u2019s a transparently bad faith gimmick \u2014 and it just might work.<\/p>\n

The conflict started last summer when Trump announced his plan to raise the number of beds in immigration facilities from 41,000 to 100,000 to accommodate his deportation dragnet. Private prison groups squealed with glee as they dove into a trough of no-bid contracts<\/a>, re-opening decrepit facilities<\/a> that had been shuttered due to lack of demand, and throwing up squalid tents<\/a> in which to imprison ICE\u2019s victims.<\/p>\n

Under \u00a7 527 of the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act<\/a> \u2014 AKA the budget bill \u2014 ICE must allow legislators to inspect \u201cany facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens.\u201d DHS cannot use allocated funds to block access by members of Congress, and those lawmakers don\u2019t have to call first.<\/p>\n

This has caused substantial friction between DHS and congressional Democrats. Most notably, the US Attorney\u2019s Office for New Jersey charged Newark Mayor Ras Baraka with trespassing at the ICE facility in his own backyard, only to drop the charges against him and indict Rep. LaMonica McIver for assault.<\/p>\n

Clearly DHS would prefer to run what are effectively concentration camps in secret, so in June Noem announced<\/a> a new policy requiring legislators to request access a week in advance and allowing entry at her sole discretion.<\/p>\n

In July, a group of lawmakers led by Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado sued<\/a> to block enforcement of the seven-day notice requirement. And on December 17, Judge Jia Cobb in DC enjoined<\/a> the policy for violating \u00a7 527\u2019s ban on using budget funds to exclude legislators from the facilities.<\/p>\n

Congress hasn\u2019t passed a budget in two years, but it has enacted a series of continuing resolutions to keep the government funded, most recently<\/a> in December. Each of those resolutions specifies that additional funds \u201cshall be available to the extent and in the manner\u201d provided in the prior budget, meaning that \u00a7 527 still applies.<\/p>\n

The Appropriations Bill isn\u2019t the only source of funding for Noem\u2019s goons, though. Congress gave DHS nearly $30 billion under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act<\/a> for hiring, training, enforcement, and \u201cfacility upgrades to support enforcement and removal operations.\u201d Section 527 does not apply to OBBBA funds. But during discovery DHS conceded that it wasn\u2019t using OBBBA funds to run detention facilities, so Judge Cobb barred enforcement of the Noem memo and ordered DHS to let the legislators back in.<\/p>\n

Spotting a loophole, Noem issued new guidance<\/a> on January 8 purporting to reinstate the banned policy, but this time using only OBBBA funds:<\/p>\n

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ICE must ensure that this policy is implemented and enforced exclusively with money appropriated by the OBBBA. To that end, any time or resources spent conducting activities otherwise subject to Section 527\u2019s limitations must be appropriately logged and funded from OBBBA funding. Given the extent of the funding made available to ICE through the OBBBA, I anticipate that there is more than sufficient funding available for the limited expenses associated with implementing and enforcing these policies.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Translation: We\u2019re going to evade legislative oversight with this bottomless slush fund Congress awarded us.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, money is fungible. Just declaring that it came from one pot and not another \u2014 particularly when you\u2019ve been claiming the opposite for months \u2014 doesn\u2019t make it so. <\/p>\n

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This policy is a clear attempt to subvert the ruling \u2014 a mere 3 weeks ago \u2014 in Neguse et al. v. ICE et al.We will challenge it in court immediately.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Rep. Joe Neguse (@neguse.house.gov)<\/a> 2026-01-11T03:15:43.539Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Rep. Neguse, et al, may argue that the facilities run<\/em> on regular budget funds, and DHS can\u2019t carve out one specific type of interaction by \u201clogging\u201d it (whatever that means) as funded by OBBBA. Perhaps the plaintiffs will demand court oversight to verify that the funding really is<\/em> coming from a different pot. Or perhaps the Trump administration will get away with evading Congressional oversight by telling yet another obvious lie and demanding that it be accorded a presumption of regularity it long since frittered away.<\/a><\/p>\n

Subscribe to read more at Law and Chaos\u2026.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

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Liz Dye<\/a>\u00a0produces the Law and Chaos\u00a0Substack\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0You can subscribe by clicking the logo:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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The post Kristi Noem Will Defeat ICE Oversight With Creative Accounting<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Photo by Nathan Posner\/Anadolu via Getty Images)\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On January 10, Minnesota Reps. Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig, and Kelly Morrison became the latest members of Congress to be turned away when they attempted to inspect an ICE facility in Minneapolis. After first being allowed inside, they were quickly hustled off the premises<\/a> by personal edict of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the murder of Renee Good and in defiance of federal law and a court order, Noem has now barred members of Congress from inspecting immigration facilities without notice and her personal permission.<\/p>\n

She claims to have discovered ONE WEIRD TRICK to exclude Members of Congress from ICE facilities. It\u2019s a transparently bad faith gimmick \u2014 and it just might work.<\/p>\n

The conflict started last summer when Trump announced his plan to raise the number of beds in immigration facilities from 41,000 to 100,000 to accommodate his deportation dragnet. Private prison groups squealed with glee as they dove into a trough of no-bid contracts<\/a>, re-opening decrepit facilities<\/a> that had been shuttered due to lack of demand, and throwing up squalid tents<\/a> in which to imprison ICE\u2019s victims.<\/p>\n

Under \u00a7 527 of the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act<\/a> \u2014 AKA the budget bill \u2014 ICE must allow legislators to inspect \u201cany facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens.\u201d DHS cannot use allocated funds to block access by members of Congress, and those lawmakers don\u2019t have to call first.<\/p>\n

This has caused substantial friction between DHS and congressional Democrats. Most notably, the US Attorney\u2019s Office for New Jersey charged Newark Mayor Ras Baraka with trespassing at the ICE facility in his own backyard, only to drop the charges against him and indict Rep. LaMonica McIver for assault.<\/p>\n

Clearly DHS would prefer to run what are effectively concentration camps in secret, so in June Noem announced<\/a> a new policy requiring legislators to request access a week in advance and allowing entry at her sole discretion.<\/p>\n

In July, a group of lawmakers led by Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado sued<\/a> to block enforcement of the seven-day notice requirement. And on December 17, Judge Jia Cobb in DC enjoined<\/a> the policy for violating \u00a7 527\u2019s ban on using budget funds to exclude legislators from the facilities.<\/p>\n

Congress hasn\u2019t passed a budget in two years, but it has enacted a series of continuing resolutions to keep the government funded, most recently<\/a> in December. Each of those resolutions specifies that additional funds \u201cshall be available to the extent and in the manner\u201d provided in the prior budget, meaning that \u00a7 527 still applies.<\/p>\n

The Appropriations Bill isn\u2019t the only source of funding for Noem\u2019s goons, though. Congress gave DHS nearly $30 billion under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act<\/a> for hiring, training, enforcement, and \u201cfacility upgrades to support enforcement and removal operations.\u201d Section 527 does not apply to OBBBA funds. But during discovery DHS conceded that it wasn\u2019t using OBBBA funds to run detention facilities, so Judge Cobb barred enforcement of the Noem memo and ordered DHS to let the legislators back in.<\/p>\n

Spotting a loophole, Noem issued new guidance<\/a> on January 8 purporting to reinstate the banned policy, but this time using only OBBBA funds:<\/p>\n

\n

ICE must ensure that this policy is implemented and enforced exclusively with money appropriated by the OBBBA. To that end, any time or resources spent conducting activities otherwise subject to Section 527\u2019s limitations must be appropriately logged and funded from OBBBA funding. Given the extent of the funding made available to ICE through the OBBBA, I anticipate that there is more than sufficient funding available for the limited expenses associated with implementing and enforcing these policies.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Translation: We\u2019re going to evade legislative oversight with this bottomless slush fund Congress awarded us.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of course, money is fungible. Just declaring that it came from one pot and not another \u2014 particularly when you\u2019ve been claiming the opposite for months \u2014 doesn\u2019t make it so. <\/p>\n

Rep. Neguse, et al, may argue that the facilities run<\/em> on regular budget funds, and DHS can\u2019t carve out one specific type of interaction by \u201clogging\u201d it (whatever that means) as funded by OBBBA. Perhaps the plaintiffs will demand court oversight to verify that the funding really is<\/em> coming from a different pot. Or perhaps the Trump administration will get away with evading Congressional oversight by telling yet another obvious lie and demanding that it be accorded a presumption of regularity it long since frittered away.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to read more at Law and Chaos\u2026.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Liz Dye<\/a>\u00a0produces the Law and Chaos\u00a0Substack\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0You can subscribe by clicking the logo:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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