Minnesota’s federal judges have been so overwhelmed by the caseload of new cases challenging ICE’s detention of illegal immigrants that they’ve had to borrow judges from other states to handle the work.
Iowa, Idaho, North Dakota and Nebraska have lent jurists to help with the surge of cases. More than 200 “habeas corpus” challenges to migrants’ detention have been filed in Minnesota this month alone, as the courts grapple with the Trump administration’s new policy requiring those arrested by ICE to be held in custody pending their deportation.
Neither the Justice Department nor the courts appear to have been prepared.
Nationwide, some 2,100 habeas cases have been filed this month alone, following 6,800 cases in January and 3,500 in December.
U.S. District Judge Clay Land, appointed by President George W. Bush to the court in Georgia, called the flood of habeas petitions an “administrative judicial emergency” in an order last month.
Habeas corpus cases are narrow but powerful challenges to someone’s ongoing detention.
They’ve become a popular tool for lawyers for illegal immigrants after the Trump administration’s change last year, arguing that immigration law allows them to detain long-time illegal immigrants without giving them a chance to bond out of custody.
Hundreds of cases have gone to a decision and the Justice Department has lost nearly all of them.
U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, in a December ruling, said immigrants who are not a flight risk and pose no danger to the public are being automatically kept behind bars.
“No one disputes that the government may, consistent with the law’s requirements, pursue the removal of people who are in this country unlawfully,” the Biden appointee wrote. “But the way we treat others matters.”
The White House did, however, secure a major win late last week when the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the administration’s rationale for mandatory detention.
“In contrast to past administrations, the current administration has chosen to exercise a greater portion of its authority by treating applicants for admission under the provision designed to apply to them,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan.
Judges have tried to manage the bloated caseload as they work through the habeas petitions.
Judge Land in Georgia has ordered immediate hearings for any of the migrants who may be eligible for a bond hearing.
In Maryland, U.S. District Court Chief Judge George L. Russell has ordered the White House not to deport any migrants with active habeas petitions. Judge Russell, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, said the scores of lawsuits the court handled in December resulted in hurried and frustrated hearings.”
Government lawyers arguing the cases are also feeling the pressure.
One, lent from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the Justice Department, told a federal judge she’d welcome being held in contempt of court because it would mean she could take a break from her cases and “get 24 hours of sleep.”
• This story is based in part on wire service reports.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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