Immigration attorneys allowed to inspect ICE detention facility at Whipple Building after court order

Immigration-rights attorneys will get to see for themselves the conditions inside the Whipple Federal Building and visit clients on Monday, Feb. 9, following a judge’s ruling granting them access to the facility.

U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Brasel over the weekend ordered that attorneys be given full access to the detention facility near Fort Snelling by 5 p.m. Monday, court documents show.

The Whipple Building has been at the center of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity as part of “Operation Metro Surge,” the government’s aggressive immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

A steady stream of protests have taken place outside the seven-story building near Fort Snelling in recent weeks.

Attorneys representing the Minneapolis nonprofit Advocates for Human Rights, one of many organizations that have brought lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security, agreed to an inspection Monday morning, court documents showed.

Brasel’s ruling on Sunday, Feb. 8, said attorneys may interact with detainees at the Whipple Building during their visit but may not carry cellphones and cameras.

Hundreds of immigrants detained by the Department of Homeland Security have been held inside the boxy building, which houses regional ICE operations.

In recent weeks amid the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, there has been a battle over who can access the building.

In January, Minnesota U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig and Kelly Morrison were originally allowed in the Whipple Building to conduct an oversight visit, but then were asked to leave the facility.

The congresswomen were told they had to give a seven-day notice before visiting.

A federal judge last week temporarily restored Congress members’ ability to inspect ICE detention facilities without appointments.

Attorneys have also alleged that they have been restricted from seeing clients in the Whipple Building in what they call violations of their Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.

Those conditions appear to violate the principles underlying ICE’s own detention standards, which says the agency “ensure[s] that detainees are treated humanely; protected from harm; provided appropriate medical and mental health care; and receive the rights and protections to which they are entitled.”

In the past, the Whipple Building has been used for only short-term holding of a day or shorter. Some have been held there longer during “Operation Metro Surge.”

Brasel’s ruling is the latest development in the case brought forth by the Advocates for Human Rights on behalf of a St. Paul woman.

The woman, who had a pending asylum case, was arrested after showing up for a scheduled check-in. She was taken to Whipple. Her attorneys were not allowed to speak with her, the lawsuit filed in late January states.

The suit also describes the troubles inside the Whipple Building.