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A federal judge in California on Thursday tossed out a lower court ruling that supported broad detention powers of migrants by the Trump administration.
Judge Sunshine Sykes, a Biden bench appointee, said the government’s claim it was taking the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal immigrants for deportation was “inaccurate.”
“‘Worst of the worst’ is an inaccurate description of most of those affected by DHS and ICE’s operations,” Sykes wrote. “Perhaps in utilizing this extreme language DHS seeks to justify the magnitude and scope of its operations against non-criminal noncitizens.”
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US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, along with other federal law enforcement agencies, attend a pre-enforcement meeting in Chicago. A federal judge on Thursday tossed out an administrative court ruling that supported broad detention powers of migrants by the Trump administration. (Getty Images)
“Maybe that phrase merely mirrors the severity and ill-natured conduct by the Government,” Sykes added. “Even though these press releases might contain an inkling of truth, they ignore a greater, more dire reality.”
The ruling could block mass deportations and guarantee bond hearings for many non-criminal migrant detainees.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been allowed to deny bond hearings to those arrested by federal immigration authorities who had been in the United States for years.
Recent migrant arrivals have traditionally not been guaranteed an immediate bond hearing. In June, the Trump administration singled out California and launched a mass detention policy focusing on migrants in the Los Angeles area in an effort to arrest criminal illegal immigrants.
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DHS Secretary Kristi Noem speaks from a podium as assembled DHS staff watch. (Al Drago/Getty Images)
Several people detained sued, alleging they had been denied bond hearings. Sykes said the administration’s policies swept too broadly.
“Americans have expressed deep concerns over unlawful, wanton acts by the executive branch,” Skyes said. “It is not the ‘worst of the worst’ that are swept into the nationwide and reckless violations of the law by the executive branch. In the past weeks, the Government detained Adrian Conejo Arias and his five-year-old son without a valid warrant.”
“Beyond its terror against noncitizens, the executive branch has extended its violence on its own citizens, killing two American citizens— Renée Good and Alex Pretti—in Minnesota,” the judge added. “The threats posed by the executive branch cannot be viewed in isolation.”
A federal appeals court based in New Orleans last week ruled for the administration, concluding the current DHS detention and bond policy was legal.
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The Justice Department had no immediate comment on the latest ruling but is expected to appeal the decision and request the detention policies be allowed to continue temporarily while the issue is being litigated.
Fox News Digital has also reached out to the White House.