Federal Judges Accuse ICE Of Repeatedly Defying Court Orders Amid Mass Deportation Push

Federal judges across the United States have grown increasingly vocal in accusing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and related agencies of ignoring or violating court orders during the administration’s broad deportation campaign. Over the past month, multiple federal judges have publicly rebuked what they characterize as systemic disregard for judicial directives and threatened sanctions or contempt proceedings in response.

Judges Raise Alarms

“There has been an undeniable move by the Government in the past month to defy court orders or at least to stretch the legal process to the breaking point in an attempt to deny noncitizens their due process rights,” wrote U.S. District Judge Michael Davis, a Clinton appointee in Minnesota, whose docket has been overwhelmed by cases from Operation Metro Surge.

“ICE is not a law unto itself,” Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz of Minnesota wrote, noting what he called staggering noncompliance. He conservatively estimated that Minnesota judges had documented roughly 96 violations of court orders by ICE in a single month.

Examples From Around The Country

Judges in several jurisdictions described similar incidents and patterns:

• New Jersey: Judge Christine O’Hearn (a Biden appointee) said ICE “blatantly disregarded” an order to release a detainee without conditions, instead imposing electronic monitoring.
• Florida: Judge Roy Dalton (an Obama appointee) warned he would consider sanctions after finding Justice Department attorneys relied on misleading arguments in defending deportation policies.
• Rhode Island: Judge Mary McElroy (a Trump appointee) found the government moved a detainee to a facility she deemed “wholly unsuitable,” and wrote the court could conclude the administration had willfully violated orders and misrepresented facts.
• Massachusetts: Judge Angel Kelley (a Biden appointee) said ICE transferred a Salvadoran woman out of Maine without notice in violation of an order, causing her to miss a protection hearing.
• California: Judge Sunshine Sykes (a Biden appointee) threatened contempt for continued defiance of an order granting class relief to immigrants targeted for detention.
• Minnesota: Judge Donovan Frank (a Clinton appointee) raised concerns that ICE had been relocating detainees to states perceived as having more favorable judges, obscuring detainees’ locations.

Earlier High-Profile Orders And System Strain

Judges have previously intervened in notable cases, including orders to retain custody of Venezuelans allegedly removed without due process and to facilitate the return of individuals unlawfully deported. But court complaints now point to an intensification of removals and transfers that have overwhelmed both the courts and career prosecutors.

Ana Voss, the top civil litigator in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, apologized for failing to update a judge about the location of a detainee amid the crush of cases. Several judges have said career prosecutors have tried to comply despite limited resources.

Government Response

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson noted that Chief Judge Schiltz had declined an initial plan to subpoena ICE’s director for a potential contempt hearing. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin criticized the judge as an “activist judge” and defended DHS’s efforts to enforce U.S. law within constitutional bounds.

Judges and observers warn that repeated violations of court orders threaten due process and the rule of law. As Schiltz put it after listing alleged violations: “This list should give pause to anyone — no matter his or her political beliefs — who cares about the rule of law.”