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A federal judge Thursday night ordered the #Trump admin to give detainees at an #immigration facility near #Minneapolis adequate access to lawyers, saying the government isolated thousands of immigrants from proper legal services.
#law #DueProcess #CivilRights
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/us/minnesota-immigration-detainees-lawyers.html?smid=url-share
In the lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in #Minnesota, lawyers for Advocates for #HumanRights, a nonprofit, argued detainees at the B.H. Whipple Federal Building have not been given access to lawyers for at least a month during the #Trump admin’s #immigration enforcement surge in the Twin Cities.
Lawyers for the federal govt argued that they could not arrange detainees to meet with lawyers because they did not have space to accommodate them in the facility.
The government lawyers also said that the detainees were given access to phones to make calls for legal services.
Judge Nancy E. Brasel, a #Trump appointee, said in her order on Thursday that it appeared “the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees. The government suggests — with minimal explanation & even less evidence — that doing so would result in ‘chaos.’”
Granting the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order, the judge said the #immigrants must receive access to phones for legal services within one hour of their detention & before being transferred out of the center. She also ordered the government to keep the detainees in #Minnesota during the first 3 days of their detention so they have the chance to retain a local lawyer.
