The Trump administration’s intensified immigration detention campaign has pushed federal courts across the United States into an unprecedented workload, as thousands of detainees challenge their arrests and seek emergency relief, according to a report by POLITICO.
The report, based on a review of thousands of ICE detention cases and interviews with detainees, lawyers and judges, found that federal judges have ruled against Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention tactics more than 16,000 times over the past year. About two-thirds of those rulings were linked to a July 8, 2025, ICE memo that significantly expanded the government’s interpretation of a 1996 immigration detention statute.
ICE expands mandatory detention
The memo, issued by then-acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, changed how mandatory detention without bond could be applied. Under the new interpretation, immigrants who had lived in the US for years, maintained jobs and families and had no criminal records could be treated as people “seeking” entry into the country.
Lawsuits overwhelm
The change has generated tens of thousands of emergency lawsuits, overwhelming court dockets in several states. US District Judge Fred Biery of Texas told POLITICO that his courthouse, which normally handles about 1,500 civil lawsuits annually, had received 4,000 by May.
“We’ve never seen anything like this in my career,” Biery said.
Judges in several districts have had to reorganise their operations to deal with the influx. Judge Troy Nunley of the Eastern District of California said judges were working into the early hours to process habeas petitions, which seek judicial review of unlawful detention.
His district had recorded only four immigration habeas cases in 2021. In May alone this year, it received 675 cases, according to POLITICO.
Minnesota sees major enforcement surge
The surge has been particularly pronounced in states targeted by major ICE enforcement operations. Los Angeles and Chicago have seen sharp increases in habeas petitions, while New Jersey and Texas courts have also experienced heavy caseloads. Minnesota faced an especially large influx after thousands of federal agents were deployed there during Operation Metro Surge.
The legal pressure is compounded by ICE’s practice of transferring detainees between states. Lawyers must often locate people quickly and file petitions before they are moved again, creating a race against time.
Trump administration defends policy
The Trump administration, however, has defended the detention policy and rejected criticism from judges. The Justice Department has described legal challenges as coming from “activist judges” and said the administration remains committed to enforcing President Donald Trump’s immigration priorities.
The administration argues that the expanded detention authority has existed since the Clinton era and that previous administrations simply chose not to use it as aggressively. About 54 federal district judges have sided with the government’s interpretation, although they represent a small minority of judges who have considered the issue.
The disagreement has now spread to federal appeals courts. While two appeals courts have backed the administration’s position, six have ruled against it, creating a legal split that could ultimately require the Supreme Court to settle the dispute.
Meanwhile, lawyers and judges warn that the pressure is unlikely to ease. ICE has continued increasing arrests, potentially generating another wave of lawsuits.
“We can’t continue this madness. It’s not sustainable,” Oklahoma immigration lawyer Kelli Stump told POLITICO.
