Federal judges across the country are increasingly condemning the Trump administration’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for what they describe as systematic legal and constitutional abuses amid the president’s mass deportation campaign.
For over a year, courts have raised concerns about the administration’s push to round up and deport millions of noncitizens, but recently the warnings have escalated into open criticism from judges nationwide.
U.S. District Judge Michael Davis, a Minnesota-based Clinton appointee, stated:
“There has been an undeniable move by the Government in the past month to defy court orders or stretch the legal process to the breaking point in an attempt to deny noncitizens their due process rights.”
Minnesota federal courts have been especially impacted by Operation Metro Surge, ICE’s large-scale deportation effort, which has flooded the courts with tens of thousands of emergency lawsuits.
Other judges nationwide have voiced similar concerns:
- Judge Patrick Schiltz (Minnesota): ICE violated court orders 96 times in January alone, particularly orders to release detained immigrants.
- Judge Christine O’Hearn (New Jersey): Administration ignored her order to release a man from ICE custody, instead imposing electronic monitoring.
- Judge Roy Dalton (Florida): Threatened sanctions for misleading legal arguments supporting deportation policies.
- Judge Mary McElroy (Rhode Island): Ruled ICE willfully violated her orders by relocating a detainee to a facility deemed “wholly unsuitable.”
- Judge Angel Kelley (Massachusetts): ICE moved a Salvadoran woman without warning, causing her to miss a hearing to seek protection from deportation.
- Judge Sunshine Sykes (Los Angeles): Threatened contempt for continued defiance of class action relief orders.
- Judge Donovan Frank (Minnesota): Highlighted ICE’s practice of racing detainees to states with favorable judges.
Judges have emphasized that ICE cannot operate as a law unto itself and must comply with federal court orders.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responded by calling some judges “activist” and stating that it would continue enforcing U.S. laws within constitutional guidelines.
The surge of legal challenges has overwhelmed the court system and the Justice Department, leading to missed deadlines, errors, and growing frustration among judges. U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutors in Minnesota apologized for failing to update courts on detainee locations due to the caseload.
Judge Schiltz warned:
“This list should give pause to anyone — no matter his or her political beliefs — who cares about the rule of law.”
