Staggering number of judges hammer Trump’s immigration agenda: analysis

More than 100 federal judges have handed down more than 200 rulings against the Trump administration’s effort "to systematically detain immigrants facing possible deportation," according to an analysis by Politico.

That effort against immigrants has "appeared to violate their rights or was just flatly illegal," the report said. "The onslaught of legal rejections has come in hundreds of individual cases, typically filed on an emergency basis after ICE’s targets are arrested at courthouses or check-ins with immigration officers."

Politico reported that an overwhelming swath of judges has rejected the Trump DOJ's core contention that “President Trump and Secretary Noem are now enforcing this law as it was actually written to keep America safe." It cited the sweeping range of judges who had rejected that premise.

"According to Politico’s analysis, the bulk of rulings against the Trump administration’s position has come from judges appointed by Democratic Presidents Joe Biden (50), Obama (31) and Clinton (6). But the decisions have been resoundingly adopted across political lines. Judges appointed by Republican presidents — Trump (12), George W. Bush (12), George H.W. Bush (1) and Reagan (2) — have reached the same conclusions.

"Only two judges, meanwhile, have adopted the administration’s position: one appointed by Obama and another by Trump."

Previous administrations considered only those arriving at the border or seeking permission to enter as “applicants for admission," the report stated. Now, ICE is trying to broaden that definition to "applicants for admission" already living in the United States — no matter how long they've lived here — and subject them to “mandatory detention."

"Despite the overwhelming consensus in the detention cases, the administration is pinning its hopes on appellate courts to reverse the tide. The Justice Department, in recent days, has begun appealing many of the adverse decisions," the report concludes.