ICE sinks deeper into legal quagmire, pummelled by 3 more judges in one day

ICE is melting. It’s currently being hammered in the courts, with three more brutal setbacks on Friday alone, all as public support for the agency plummets. 

A new poll released earlier this week revealed that 50% of U.S. voters “strongly or somewhat” want to see ICE dismantled. That’s a 5% jump from January, after the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by federal immigration officers. 

Over the past month, ICE has been slammed by federal judges for unlawful detentions and for keeping detainees from lawyers. This past week, U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen was questioned about missing property belonging to six people who had been held in ICE custody in Minnesota. 

The wheels of justice turn

Rosen explained that ICE was trying to operate under really tight deadlines, which forced them to make tough choices. They prioritized releasing some detainees on time, even if it meant their personal property wasn’t returned with them. Rosen stated, “Nobody has been wilfully disobedient. There have been mistakes that have been made, but that is a far, far cry from contempt of court.”

Despite that explanation, Judge John Tunheim issued a court order demanding that ICE facilitate the return of detainees’ property by April 6. This property includes crucial documents like work authorization cards, driver’s licenses, bank cards, and IDs. If ICE doesn’t meet this deadline, it’ll face civil contempt and daily civil fines until everything is returned. 

In Washington state, Judge Kymberly K. Evanson ordered a bond hearing for an Iranian Kurd named Azad Rahmani, who ICE was trying to send back to Iran just days before a war was set to begin. Rahmani fled Iran in 2023 after being beaten, imprisoned, and threatened over his participation in political protests, coming to the U.S. to seek asylum.

Rahmani has been detained for seven months under conditions the judge described as “similar to a prison,” with potentially many more months or even years of detention ahead. Evanson granted Rahmani’s petition for a bond hearing within 14 days and explicitly forbade his removal to a third country, like Iran, without proper notice and an opportunity for him to be heard. 

If that wasn’t enough, Judge Cardone in Texas ordered a bond hearing for Juan Ponciano Garcia Garcia. ICE missed a court deadline after confusing the cases of two individuals with the same surname, “Garcia Garcia.” In recompense, Cardone ordered ICE to provide Garcia with a bond hearing by March 13. They will need to prove, with clear and convincing evidence, that Garcia poses a danger or flight risk to justify his continued detention or release him.

Cardone then scolded the administration’s counsel, reminding them of their “duty of diligence” and telling them to “implement procedures to avoid the repeated recurrence of such mistakes.”