Since October 2025, several North American federal courts have ruled more than 4,400 times against illegal detentions of immigrants by the Immigration and Borders Service (ICE), reveals Reuters agency. However, Donald Trump’s administration has systematically ignored court rulings and continues to apply its large-scale detention policy.
The conclusion results from an analysis of federal court records carried out by the agency, which reveals a strong and widespread judicial challenge to the White House’s migration repression strategy.
In one of the most recent cases, cited by Reuters, federal judge Thomas Johnston, from West Virginia, appointed by former president George W. Bush, a Republican, harshly criticized the Government when ordering the release of a Venezuelan citizen. “It is shocking that the Government insists that this court must redefine or completely ignore the law as it is clearly written,” he wrote.
Without other effective ways to guarantee freedom, detained immigrants presented more than 20,200 federal lawsuits since Trump returned to the presidency.
In at least 4,421 of these processes, More than 400 federal judges concluded that ICE was illegally detaining people as part of its mass deportation campaign.
Despite this, the Trump administration’s policy remains. The number of people in ICE custody reached around 68,000 this month, a 75% increase compared to the beginning of Trump’s second term.
White House defends legality
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the administration is “working to legally fulfill President Trump’s mandate to enforce federal immigration law.”
The Department of Homeland Security also reacted to the court decisions. His spokeswoman, Tricia McLaughlin, said the increase in lawsuits is no surprise, “especially after many activist judges have tried to stop President Trump from fulfilling the American people’s mandate for mass deportations.”
The Department of Justice has mobilized around 700 lawyers to represent the Government in these immigration-related cases.
Divergent decisions in higher courts
While most lower court rulings have been unfavorable to the Trump administration, some appeals courts have shown mixed signals.
In a recent trial in New Orleans, a federal appeals court held that the fact that previous administrations had not fully used the law to detain immigrants “does not mean they did not have the authority to do more,” wrote Judge Edith Jones, reversing decisions that led to the release of two Mexican citizens.
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