The top federal prosecutor in Minnesota notified an appeals court that his office has been crushed by the emergency lawsuits filed by detained immigrations during the Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge in the state.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen told the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in a filing that his office has been forced to abandon “pressing and important priorities” as prosecutors struggle to keep pace with the flood of immigration cases as the Trump administration carries out Operation Metro Surge, reported Politico.
“To respond to this wave of habeas petitions, this Office has been forced to shift its already limited resources from other pressing and important priorities,” Rosen said in the court declaration. “The MN-USAO has cancelled all [civil enforcement] work and any other affirmative priorities and is operating in a reactive mode.”
Justice Department attorneys also emphasized the “crushing burden” in their own filing accompanying Rosen's declaration, telling attorneys offices to “shift resources away from other critical priorities, including criminal matters," and their claims contradict assurances by the Department of Homeland Security about the surge in legal challenges.
"The rupture between DHS and DOJ has been on display in Minnesota, where DOJ attorneys say they’ve struggled to gain cooperation from ICE amid the enforcement surge — and are running on fumes to manage the extraordinary workload," reported Politico's Kyle Cheney.
The Trump-appointed Rosen said he has lot about half of his team of attorneys handling civil litigation after prosecutors resigned or departed during the surge, and those who remain are bouncing between contempt hearings as administration agencies ignore court orders.
"Rosen is urging the appellate court to quickly resolve an issue at the heart of the emergency lawsuits: whether ICE has the legal authority to lock up most of the immigrants that agents are targeting for deportation, even if they’ve lived in the U.S. for years without incident," Cheney reported. "Judges in Minnesota and around the country have overwhelmingly rejected ICE’s position, ordering thousands of detainees freed or provided with bond hearings in immigration courts run by the Justice Department."
The challenges have clogged up court dockets all over the country, especially in Minnesota, but the issue has never been conclusively settled.
“Absent expedited review, the resources of this Office will continue to be drained as hundreds more habeas petitions are filed, and the other important responsibilities and other priorities will be compromised,” Rosen told the court.
