Since October, judges across the United States have issued more than 4,400 rulings finding that President Donald Trump’s administration unlawfully detained immigrants, according to a review of court records by Reuters.
The decisions represent a broad judicial pushback against the administration’s immigration crackdown. Despite those rulings, however, the government has continued to hold some individuals in custody even after courts determined the policy was illegal.
Calling the government’s position untenable, U.S. District Judge Thomas Johnston of West Virginia, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, rebuked federal authorities last week as he ordered the release of a Venezuelan man held in the state.
“It is appalling that the Government insists that this Court should redefine or completely disregard the current law as it is clearly written,” Johnston wrote in his ruling.
Many of the decisions focus on the administration’s break from a nearly 30-year understanding of federal law, under which immigrants already residing in the United States were eligible to seek release on bond while their cases moved through immigration court.
Responding to the criticism, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the administration is “working to lawfully deliver on President Trump’s mandate to enforce federal immigration law.”
Immigration detention numbers have climbed sharply during Trump’s tenure. This month, the population in ICE custody reached roughly 68,000 people, an increase of about 75 percent compared with levels when he assumed office last year.
At the appellate level, the administration secured a favorable ruling from a conservative-leaning court in New Orleans. Writing for the court, U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones said that simply because earlier administrations did not make full use of the statute to detain immigrants “does not mean they lacked the authority to do more,” overturning lower court decisions that had resulted in the release of two Mexican men. The men remain out of custody, according to their attorney.
Similar cases are expected to come before other federal appeals courts in the weeks ahead.
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Addressing the wave of legal challenges, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said the rise in lawsuits was “no surprise” — “especially after many activist judges have attempted to thwart President Trump from fulfilling the American people’s mandate for mass deportations.”
With limited alternatives available to challenge their confinement, immigrant detainees have turned in large numbers to the federal courts.
Since Trump returned to office, more than 20,200 lawsuits have been filed seeking release from custody, according to a Reuters review of court dockets, highlighting the far-reaching consequences of the administration’s policy shift.
The rulings have been significant. Since the start of October alone, over 400 federal judges have determined in at least 4,421 cases that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is unlawfully detaining individuals as part of its mass-deportation effort, Reuters found.