Judge denies relief in push for Oregon immigration detainee attorney access

A federal judge in Eugene denied a push by two Oregon nonprofits to force Homeland Security to guarantee migrants access to lawyers before ICE transfers them out of state to a larger detention facility. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken, ruling on a 2025 lawsuit from Clear Clinic and Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, found only one of three plaintiffs had standing and declined to certify a class of people who simply fear arrest.

The nonprofits wanted ICE ordered to arrange attorney meetings, hand over detainee paperwork before any attorney-client relationship existed, let detainees attend Know Your Rights trainings, and keep Oregon field offices open nights and weekends. Aiken called this an attempt to write new operational rules for ICE facilities rather than restore any prior status quo, and noted detainees are being transferred too quickly, not held too long, undercutting the nonprofits' own theory.

Aiken also faulted the evidence behind the nonprofits' claims as thin, dismissed CBP and its acting commissioner from the suit for lack of specific allegations, and rejected the First Amendment claim since attorneys have gotten some access, just not as much as they wanted. The law lab representing plaintiffs says it will keep challenging ICE; the government did not comment.

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