Hundreds of individuals have been arrested throughout ICE operations in Minneapolis over the previous two weeks. A number of attorneys allege that for a few of these detained, together with no less than one U.S. citizen, the Division of Homeland Safety is denying their constitutional proper to see an lawyer.
4 attorneys instructed ABC Information they’ve been denied entry to their purchasers on the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Constructing in Minneapolis, the place they’re being held, which they are saying would violate fifth and sixth Modification rights to due course of and the fitting to seek the advice of with counsel.
“ICE brokers had been bodily proscribing me from seeing them,” stated one immigration lawyer, who requested to not be recognized. “I stood outdoors the lawyer visitation room for about 4 hours on Thursday, making an attempt to see one in all my purchasers who had been there for a number of days. I stored saying, you bought to let me see my shopper. And so they simply stored repeating, we do not do lawyer visitation.”
A person is detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers throughout an immigration raid in Minneapolis on Jan. 18, 2026. REUTERS/Leah Millis
Leah Millis/Reuters
The Division of Homeland Safety denied that any constitutional violations are going down on the Whipple Federal Constructing.
In a press release, a spokesperson for DHS denied the attorneys’ claims, including that every one detainees “have alternatives to speak with their relations and legal professionals.”
“The information are unlawful aliens in detention have entry to telephones they’ll use to contact their households and legal professionals. Moreover, ICE provides all unlawful aliens arrested a court-approved listing of free or low-cost attorneys. All detainees obtain full due course of,” the spokesperson stated partly.
The immigration lawyer instructed ABC Information they’ve visited purchasers held on comparable immigration prices on the Whipple constructing for the final decade with out challenge. The visitation denials of the previous week, they stated, are new and unprecedented.
The Whipple constructing has been a major facility the place individuals detained throughout DHS’ “Operation Metro Surge” are being briefly held. Most are finally processed and despatched to detention services throughout the nation.
The constructing has additionally been the epicenter of clashes between anti-ICE protesters and federal brokers since an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good on Jan. 7.
The attorneys who spoke to ABC Information work independently of each other. ABC Information is withholding the id of three of them because of fears that federal brokers may retaliate in opposition to their purchasers nonetheless in custody.
Federal immigration officers outdoors Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Constructing, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis.
John Locher/AP
Attorneys say they’ve acquired a wide range of explanations for why they can not see their purchasers, together with claims that they didn’t have appointments, that their purchasers didn’t ask for them by title, and that the Whipple constructing can’t accommodate attorney-client visits. None of these causes is legally legitimate, in keeping with the attorneys.
“There’s nothing within the Structure that talks about accommodating the federal government,” stated Lawyer Robert Sicoli, who instructed ABC Information he was denied entry to his shopper on the constructing final Wednesday. “It’s a violation of constitutional rights.”
“One ICE agent stated if we allow you to see your purchasers, we must let all of the attorneys see their purchasers, and picture the chaos,” stated one other lawyer who requested to not be named. “And I stated to that particular person, yeah, you do should let all of the attorneys see their purchasers. You do should accommodate that. That’s the Structure. You selected to place them right here. I did not deliver this man right here, you probably did.”
One other lawyer described going to the Whipple constructing to attempt to see his shopper, a U.S. citizen and an Iraq Battle veteran, who he says was a bystander to an immigration enforcement operation close to his house.
“They instructed me that as a result of my shopper had not requested me by title, that I couldn’t see him,” the distinguished native prison protection lawyer instructed ABC Information. “I’ve been practising legislation in Minnesota for nearly 20 years, and I’ve by no means been denied entry to a shopper.”
The immigration lawyer agreed.
“We have blatant constitutional violations and so they’re intentional, it is not unintended, however no person cares and so they’re doubling down.”
Individuals protest in opposition to the deadly capturing of Renee Nicole Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, throughout a rally outdoors the Whipple Constructing in Minneapolis, January 8, 2026.
Tim Evans/Reuters
That lawyer described one other instance, making an attempt to see a detained shopper who has extreme medical considerations and desires particular drugs.
“His household had been making an attempt to drop off drugs, and his household had not confirmed that he had acquired the drugs that he wants for his life,” stated the lawyer. “So, I particularly instructed ICE that I would like to speak to this man to ensure he received his drugs. And so they would not let me see him.”
All attorneys ABC Information spoke to known as the DHS denial a blatant lie, citing their very own private experiences as proof.
The immigration lawyer additionally stated entry to an lawyer by telephone is completely different from entry to an lawyer in particular person.
“If ICE is making an attempt to say, ‘Oh, it is tremendous, you may simply have your shopper name you and you may discuss and focus on their case over the telephone,’ that is completely unacceptable from an attorney-client standpoint. [Federal authorities] can and certain are listening in to these telephone calls.”
Federal officers stand outdoors the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Constructing throughout a protest on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, in Minneapolis.
Yuki Iwamura/AP
In latest months, different attorneys have raised comparable claims in cities additionally grappling with a surge of immigration enforcement below the Trump administration. In September in New York Metropolis, a federal decide ordered that DHS present detainees a approach to make confidential calls to their legal professionals inside 24 hours of being detained at a holding facility at 26 Federal Plaza.
In October, detainees on the ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, filed a lawsuit claiming they had been being held in overcrowded and unsanitary circumstances in addition to being denied confidential and environment friendly entry to counsel.
“It hurts your head the sorts of authorized violations they’re partaking in and the video games they’re enjoying,” stated the prison protection lawyer. “It’s disgusting. This isn’t the America I like.”
