Minnesota judges nearly shut out DOJ in a week of immigrant detention hearings

[LetMyPeopleVote]

An MS NOW review of court cases found that in 61 challenges to immigrant detention last week, all but one succeeded, an apparent blow to Trump’s Operation Metro Surge.

Minnesota judges nearly shut out DOJ in a week of immigrant detention hearings
An MS NOW review of court cases found that in 61 challenges to immigrant detention last week, all but one succeeded, an apparent blow to Trump’s Operation Metro Surge.

www.ms.now/news/minneso...

— Emma Jean Kitty (@emmajeankitty.bsky.social) 2026-01-29T06:12:50.650Z

https://www.ms.now/news/minnesota-judges-nearly-shut-out-doj-in-a-week-of-immigrant-detention-hearings

As the fight against the surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity continues on the streets of Minneapolis, many significant legal battles are taking shape inside Minnesota’s federal courts. An MS NOW analysis of Minnesota federal court cases has found that President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice is losing many of them. ....

MS NOW studied the 61 cases challenging immigrants’ detention — also known as habeas corpus petitions or habeas cases — that were decided in the week between Jan. 20 and Jan. 27. All but one of the detainees won.

Documents show that judges ordered 40 of those immigrants to be released from federal custody, either immediately or within days. The orders came from judges nominated by both Republican and Democratic presidents.

In 18 of the cases in which judges ordered release, they also ordered that the Justice Department confirm that the detainees have, in fact, been released. In one case, court records show the government did not comply with that order, drawing a sharp rebuke from Judge Jeffrey Bryan. Bryan, a Biden nominee who previously served in the Minnesota U.S. attorney’s office and also as a county judge, then ordered the DOJ to confirm within hours its compliance and to state a reason for the delay in the first place.

MS NOW brought the findings to Scott Shuchart, a senior official for policy at ICE during the Biden administration, who noted that the number of habeas filings is up across the country, in part because the Trump administration has changed longstanding policy toward immigrants already living in the U.S. and detained many of these immigrants without warrants or a bond hearing.

“The level of filings and the rate of success seem extremely high relative to what we usually see with immigration-related habeas petitions,” Shuchart said.

[MichMan]

1. Trying to understand if the immigrants won 60 cases, why were only 40 released?

What happened to the remainder?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Trump DOJ nearly shut out by judges over cases that 'turn your stomach': expert

trump continues his losing streak in court

Trump DOJ nearly shut out by judges over cases that 'turn your stomach': expert

— #TuckFrump (@realtuckfrumper.bsky.social) 2026-01-29T20:50:35.000Z

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-doj-ice

President Donald Trump's Department of Justice was nearly shut out by judges after a federal judge in Minnesota said ICE has defied 100 different court orders.

Legal expert Lisa Rubin talked about the ongoing cases with MS NOW anchor Katie Tur, who described Judge Patrick J. Schiltz's statement that "ICE is behaving as if ICE itself is the law."

"It's crazy to me to have that said by the chief judge of the District of Minnesota, particularly given his background," Rubin said. "We have said this many times, but when it comes to the lawlessness of this administration, the folks who are calling that out are not all appointees of Democratic presidents. Many of them have conservative legal movement bona fides. That is absolutely true of this particular judge, Patrick Schiltz, and the order in which he related that Katie is not one where he had to say any of that."

Schiltz's comments pointed to a concern and what might happen with Trump's DOJ.

"The question was just, is Todd Lyons going to come to his courtroom on Friday and testify or not?" Rubin said. "And he said, it's no longer necessary. You have told me that you released the person in question. He was supposed to come and explain why the person hadn't been released, and they said, he's been released. We agree the hearing is off. But then he took the opportunity to say, 'I have spoken with the other judges in my district. We have counted between us nearly 100 instances in which ICE has not followed our orders."....

Rubin and MS NOW colleague Fallon Gallagher reviewed 61 cases where immigrants were challenging their detentions, which were decided between Jan. 20 and Jan. 27.

"We found that in all but one case, with judges appointed by both Democrats and Republicans, the immigrants won every single time but one. And in that one outstanding case, the person had a criminal history. But in all of the rest, not only did they have no criminal history, they were arrested in circumstances that turn your stomach," Rubin said.