Judge Brasel Grants TRO in Part: One Hour to Reach a Phone, a 72-Hour Bar on Out-of-State Transfer, Lawyer Visits at the Whipple Building

On the order date stamped on the order (filed 02/12/26), Judge Nancy E. Brasel of the District of Minnesota ruled on the plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order in The Advocates for Human Rights v. DHS. The motion was “GRANTED IN PART.”

The Court’s finding on the record

The order opens by saying ICE has “isolated thousands of people—most of them detained at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building—from their attorneys.” It describes the plaintiffs’ evidence as specific and the defendants’ declarations as general, and records the Court’s own pre-hearing inspection of the building.

What the Court ordered

• Paperwork and phone. Each person initially held at the Whipple holding facility is to receive, before any out-of-state transfer, a written A-number and a list of free legal providers (in English, Spanish, Somali, French and Hmong); the phone term is “Within one hour of detention,” free, private, unmonitored access, before any transfer out of the building.
• Transfer hold. “Defendants shall not transfer a Detainee out of Minnesota during the first 72 hours of their detention.”
• Lawyer access. “Legal visitation shall be permitted seven days per week, for a minimum of eight hours per day on business days (Monday through Friday),” in private rooms.
• Duration. “This Order shall remain in effect for fourteen days: until Friday, February 26, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. CST,”, with a status conference set before expiry.

The order also bars retaliation against plaintiffs or detainees and requires the order to reach agents stationed at the building within 12 hours.

Related Entries

• 2026-01-27–advocates-for-human-rights-sue-dhs-ice-whipple-building-access-to-counsel-class-action
• 2026-03-26–judge-brasel-preliminary-injunction-whipple-provisional-class-transfer-hold-eighth-circuit-appeal