MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel extended her order requiring that federal authorities give immigrants detained in Minnesota access to attorneys immediately after arrest and before they are transferred out of state. Brasel issued a preliminary injunction requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ensure that people detained at a holding facility in Minneapolis can reach lawyers quickly and communicate with them privately while their cases proceed.

The order requires that every noncitizen held at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building be given the opportunity to contact an attorney within one hour of detention. The order maintains that detained individuals must not be transferred out of state for the first 72 hours of detention to allow time to reach attorneys and for attorneys to attempt to halt transfers. The preliminary injunction will remain in place pending further court proceedings.

"Due process is not a game of keep-away," Brasel wrote. "ICE recognizes detainees' right to access counsel in theory and written policy, but not in practice. Instead, it has placed obstacle after obstacle in front of detainees and their attorneys, blocking communication between clients and counsel."

The Advocates for Human Rights filed a lawsuit in January. The lawsuit asserts that immigrants in detention have a fundamental right to access counsel. On February 12, Brasel issued a temporary restraining order indicating that federal authorities had failed to plan to protect the constitutional rights of people detained during Operation Metro Surge.

Government attorney Christina Parascandola told the judge that ICE had been complying with the order and that extending it with a preliminary injunction was unnecessary. Parascandola said that conditions at the Whipple facility had returned to a more manageable pace with the wind-down of the surge.

"The ability to speak freely and privately to an attorney is crucial to due process and essential to protecting people from unjust rulings, coercive detention, and life-threatening deportation," said Michele Garnett McKenzie, Executive Director of Advocates for Human Rights.