NEW: Federal judges are increasingly furious at what they see as a pattern / playbook of defiance by the Trump administration to court orders in immigration cases — in Minnesota and around the country.
Here’s a look at what they’re seeing: politico.com/news/2026/02/1…
1) WHISKING DETAINEES TO OTHER STATES: ICE has made a practice of pinballing people from where they're arrested to facilities in Texas, New Mexico or elsewhere, and sometimes more than once. It can complicate or defeate challenges to their detention.
politico.com/news/2026/02/1…
2) BLOWING OFF DEADLINES: When detainees sue for release, the administration is increasingly blowing off court-ordered deadlines to response. It's become almost routine and has led judges to order release in some cases. politico.com/news/2026/02/1…
3) IMPROPER CONDITIONS: When judges order an ICE detainee released, ICE is sometimes requiring them to submit to "conditions" like GPS monitoring, even though they're not criminal defendants. Judges say this is a plain violation of their orders.
politico.com/news/2026/02/1…
4) LEFT IN THE COLD -- OR WITHOUT I.D.: With increasing frequency, ICE detainees who win release say they're being let out 1000s of miles from home — and without belongings, like ID, wallets and warm clothes for MN weather
Judges are increasingly ordering "humane treatment." politico.com/news/2026/02/1…
Judge Nelson spent time tracking a UPS shipment to ensure that one man got his documents back. Judge Blackwell emphasized that these transgressiosn were leading judges to issuie more prescriptive orders. politico.com/news/2026/02/1…
5) DEFICIENT BOND HEARINGS: When judges order detainees to get a chance for bond, they want those detainees to have a fair chance to prove they are not a danger or a flight risk. Increasingly, judges say the bond hearings held by DOJ have fallen short of constitutional standards politico.com/news/2026/02/1…
6) ERRORS ABOUND: The crush of habeas cases have led to an epidemic of sloppy filings, incorrect info provided to courts, botched attachments of crucial files, etc. But they're at their most severe when they lead to erroneous deportations — or in one case, a non-deportation that left a man in detention. politico.com/news/2026/02/1…
7) 'FATIGUED': Judges are increasingly exasperated by what they see as a strategy to make the process — in court and for detainees writ large — as cumberosme and painful as possible, especially when judges have been rejecting their detentions en masse. politico.com/news/2026/02/1…
BONUS RULING: Judge Thomas Johnston, a George W. Bush appoiintee in West Virginia, used a recent ruling to warn of the dangers of defying due process for immigrants because of what it could also mean for Americans. It's worth a read. (h/t @Kenwardjr)
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
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