The author of an in-depth report on judges overwhelmingly rejecting a Trump administration policy sharply rebuked claims by a senior White House official about his findings.
More than 300 federal judges have ruled against President Donald Trump’s “mandatory detention” immigration policy as illegal or unconstitutional, according to an analysis by Politico’s Kyle Cheney. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller cried foul Monday night on social media.
“Over sixteen hundred times judges have unconstitutionally and unlawfully ordered the release of illegal aliens,” posted Miller, who has been the driving force in Trump’s immigration crackdown. “No democracy can function this way.”
Cheney responded to Miller’s complaint with a fact check.
“Stephen is screenshotting the headline of this story, about judges’ overwhelming rejection of the administration’s unprecedented new interpretation of laws governing detention of migrants,” Cheney posted. “Judges say it’s illegal by a margin of 335-18. Trump appointees are ruling 33-15 against it as well. And to update the stats — it’s actually more than 2,100 cases now.”
The original Cheney report, published Jan. 5, was based on an examination of court dockets from across the country that found an overwhelming consensus as judges have ordered the release or bond hearings for immigrants in more than 1,600 cases.
“The legal rejections are so frequent that one judge compared the Trump administration’s effort to Sisyphus rolling a rock uphill,” Cheney reported earlier this month. “Others have become so familiar with the cases that they’ve begun issuing terse, carbon-copy rulings to dispense with the deluge. Immigrant advocates say the administration’s win-loss record is beside the point; the goal appears to be making the process so onerous that many choose to give up rather than face weeks or months of detention.”
“Despite the overwhelming legal consensus, there has been no successful nationwide block on the policy,” Cheney added. “That’s partly because most of the cases are filed on an emergency basis by individuals in the hours after they’re arrested — with little time to assemble large groups that could mount a broad challenge.”
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