Trump administration seeks to punish judges critical of ICE

The US Department of Justice proposed disciplining judges who gave media interviews criticizing aggressive ICE raids in Minnesota.

The US Department of Justice announced on 30/9 that it had filed a judicial misconduct complaint against federal judge Patrick Schiltz and six other judges in Minnesota. This action followed an article published in The New York Times on 17/9, where the judges discussed raids by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The complaint alleged that these judges violated ethical rules by commenting on active cases. Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that his department had asked the appellate court to investigate the judges. The Department of Justice "requested these judges recuse themselves from all cases involving DHS, whether criminal or civil, due to the clear bias they demonstrated in The New York Times article."

In The New York Times article, Judge Schiltz stated that ICE's actions caused such chaos that they "created a serious threat to the rule of law" in his court. He noted that violations of court orders primarily stemmed from "weak capacity and staffing shortages." The New York Times remarked that it is rare for a judge to speak out so publicly.

Judge Patrick Schiltz in Minneapolis on 30/4. *Photo: Reuters*

Judge Schiltz and the six other judges mentioned in the article declined to comment on specific ongoing cases. However, they agreed to discuss last winter's turbulence during ICE's "Metro Surge" operation and the tensions that arose between Judge Schiltz's court and the Department of Justice.

Metro Surge was a large-scale operation launched by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to apprehend undocumented immigrants. The weeks-long campaign led to hundreds of arrests and sparked clashes between protesters and federal agents.

During Metro Surge, ICE agents shot and killed two American citizens protesting the immigration raids in the streets. This incident caused national outrage and forced the administration to scale back the operation. The administration reported that the raids resulted in the arrest of 4,000 undocumented residents in the country.

Judge Schiltz also accused the government of failing to comply with nearly 100 court orders related to immigration law enforcement in January alone. He stressed that ICE "cannot place itself above the law."