Ordered Free, Still Locked Up: Judges Fume As Trump Administration Holds Ice Detainees

Judge Troy Nunley was fed up.

Federal migration officials had erstwhile again flouted his authority by keeping a man locked up successful a California City detention halfway aft Nunley ordered him released. When he was yet group free, nan man was booted onto nan thoroughfare pinch nary passport, driver’s licence aliases different individual effects. The judge’s request that nan items beryllium returned were met pinch silence.

And truthful connected Tuesday, Nunley, nan main judge of nan Eastern District of California, slapped Department of Justice lawyer Jonathan Yu pinch an charismatic punishment and a $250 fine.

In a scathing order, Nunley laid retired why he was compelled to return specified a uncommon step. The good whitethorn person been little than immoderate postulation tickets, but it’s astir unheard for a judge to formally admonish a authorities lawyer.

By Yu’s ain admission, he was drowning successful work. In his order, Nunley recounted nan attorney’s declare he’d been assigned much than 300 astir identical cases successful nan past 3 months, each of immigrants successful detention who based on they were being held without cause.

Court filings show galore California cases impact longtime U.S. residents unexpectedly hauled disconnected to jailhouse aft regular check-ins pinch migration officials. One was an Afghan who’d helped nan American warfare effort. Another a Cambodian grandma of 8 who fled Pol Pot’s sidesplitting fields arsenic a woman astir 50 years ago.

Until past year, astir would person fought deportation connected enslaved aft a little proceeding pinch an migration judge. Now, their only dream of merchandise is to record a petition for writ of habeas corpus — a ineligible maneuver erstwhile typically reserved for decease statement inmates and suspected terrorists — inundating nan country’s busiest national courts pinch thousands of emergency suits.

The Trump management lawyer said he was trying to “triage” nan situation, but Nunley recovered he many times grounded to comply, leaving group pinch nan correct to locomotion free stuck down bars.

“The Court is not persuaded,” he wrote, issuing nan sanctions.

The bid came days aft Nunley took nan different measurement of announcing a “judicial emergency” successful nan district, which covers astir half of California, stretching from nan Oregon separator to nan Mojave Desert successful nan inland portion of nan state, including Fresno, Bakersfield and Sacramento.

In nan past year, nan Eastern District has received much petitions from migration detainees than almost immoderate different jurisdiction successful nan United States: More than 2,700 since January, compared to less than 500 past twelvemonth and conscionable 18 successful 2024. Similar crises are playing retired elsewhere, pinch national courts successful Minnesota concisely paralyzed amid nan Trump administration’s enforcement blitz location past winter.

People detained are seen down fences astatine an ICE detention installation successful Adelanto, California connected July 10, 2025.

(Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

In an question and reply pinch The Times, Nunley said dealing pinch nan surge of activity since past summertime has been “like being deed complete nan caput pinch a bat.”

“We’re up each nighttime doing these cases,” he said.

So acold this year, nan Eastern District’s six progressive judges person ordered almost group 2,000 freed.

“The mostly of nan cases that we spot are cases wherever group should not beryllium detained,” Nunley said. “They should beryllium receiving hearings to find whether aliases not they are to stay successful this country, and until they person those hearings, they should beryllium free.”

Since past July, nan Department of Homeland Security has ordered that each immigrants it arrests are taxable to “mandatory detention” — a argumentation that had antecedently only applied to those caught astatine nan border.

The alteration came 4 days aft President Trump signed a spending measure that earmarked $45 cardinal to grow nan national web of migrant lockups.

“This has been a oversea alteration successful nan measurement nan authorities has publication nan law,” said My Khanh Ngo, a elder unit lawyer astatine nan ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project. “Almost each judge who has looked astatine this has agreed these group should get bond, and yet thousands of group are still sitting successful detention.”

Elizabeth Vega, 15, right, and Darlene Rumualdo, 15, from Torres High School subordinate labour organizers, clergy leaders and migrant authorities groups to protestation migration raids nationwide astatine La Placita Olvera successful downtown Los Angeles connected January 23, 2026.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Longtime U.S. residents who mightiness erstwhile person fought removal from location — wherever they tin much easy stitchery grounds to support their lawsuit and confer pinch lawyers — are alternatively being held indefinitely.

Many person nary criminal record. Some person been successful nan U.S. truthful agelong that nan countries they came from nary longer exist.

“People are locked up successful nan aforesaid accommodation arsenic group accused of crimes, group who’ve been convicted of crimes ... and past you’re telling people, you person nary changeable of getting out,” Ngo said. “Detaining group and not giving them nan chance to get retired of detention is simply a measurement of coercing group to springiness up their claims.”

The habeas process tin return weeks aliases months depending connected nan judge and nan district.

“When nan migration cases dropped connected our district, we sewage deed harder than immoderate different extracurricular West Texas,” Nunley said. “Initially we had much cases than anyone else.”

Today, information compiled by ProPublica and ineligible activistic groups including nan Immigration Justice Transparency Initiative show almost a 4th of nan astir 30,000 progressive habeas petitions successful nan United States are successful California courts. Nunley’s ain tabulations show half nan California cases are successful his district, wherever a cleanable large wind of stepped-up enforcement, a ample organization of migrant workers and a attraction of detention centers produced a flash flood of habeas petitions.

The cases trust connected nan Constitution’s guarantee of owed process earlier being deprived of life, liberty aliases property. But according to tribunal filings, successful immoderate instances nan authorities has based on “the Fifth Amendment does not apply” to detained immigrants.

DOJ lawyers responding to nan bids for state now regularly kick they’re being crushed nether paperwork.

Judges accustomed to having authorities lawyers comply pinch their orders person been near fuming.

In California’s Central District, which includes L.A. and surrounding areas, Judge Sunshine Sykes wrote a fiery determination earlier this twelvemonth that said nan Trump management is inflicting “terror against noncitizens.”

Sykes is 1 of respective national judges crossed nan state that person tried to compel nan authorities to resume enslaved hearings. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked that determination successful March, leaving nan habeas strategy successful spot for now. But pinch challenges aliases caller decisions crossed aggregate circuits, experts opportunity nan conflict is fated for nan Supreme Court.

“ICE has nan rule and nan facts connected its side, and it adheres to each tribunal decisions until it yet gets them changeable down by nan highest tribunal successful nan land,” a Homeland Security spokesperson said successful an email to The Times.

A female holds a “ICE not invited here!” motion astatine a vigil successful San Pedro successful January.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

The lawyers fighting to free those jailed nether nan Trump administration’s mandatory detention argumentation opportunity they were not initially equipped for these ineligible battles because they utilized to beryllium exceedingly rare.

Most national judges had only seen a fistful of habeas petitions earlier past summertime — past abruptly they had hundreds of requests for urgent relief, according to Jean Reisz, co-director of nan USC Immigration Clinic.

Reisz said location are efforts to get pro bono rule groups trained connected really to efficaciously reason habeas cases, “but it takes a while to get up to speed.”

A national supplier asks residents to move backmost aft a shooting during an migration enforcement cognition successful Willowbrook connected January 21, 2026.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

At nan aforesaid time, Reisz said, lawyers are pushing judges who oversee nan cases to enactment swiftly, since interminable procedural delays guarantee group stay incarcerated.

“Most of nan habeas petitions see a mobility for impermanent restraining orders, and that requires emergency decisions from nan courts, which requires nan courts to enactment very fast,” Reisz said.

In California’s national territory courts, nan backlog remains thousands deep. Nunley said nan strategy is struggling to support up pinch nan crush of cases.

“There’s thing that says that noncitizens should not beryllium entitled to owed process,” Nunley said. “These are our people, they reside successful our district. They’re entitled to nan aforesaid owed process that you and I are entitled to.”