Judge tears into ICE for 'pretextual' abuse of power in habeas case

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Law & Crime

Mar 4th, 2026, 7:48 am


A federal judge in New York harshly criticized immigration authorities for "pretextual" and "discriminatory" abuse of authority in the case of an immigrant who came to the country as a child.

The 24-page memorandum and order comes as a particularly voluble example of a "groundswell" in judicial opinion writing. Since the summer of 2025, hundreds of district court judges have — with varying shades of discontent — rejected controversial efforts to reshape how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) classifies immigrants in order to detain them.

In this case, the petitioner, Hesler Asaf Garcia Lanza, convinced U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown, who was appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, that his arrest and detention were "unlawful acts." The government's behavior after the petitioner won release elicited unalloyed scorn from the court in its Tuesday order.

Garcia Lanza came to the country when he was 9 years old and was granted status under a "Congressionally-enacted program that provides a path to residency and U.S. citizenship," the court explains.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/this-isnt-how-things-are-supposed-to-work-in-america-judge-tears-into-ice-for-pretextual-abuse-of-power-in-habeas-case/

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Full headline: 'This isn't how things are supposed to work in America': Judge tears into ICE for 'pretextual' abuse of power in habeas case

Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nyed.540414/gov.uscourts.nyed.540414.15.0.pdf

[erronis]

1. In a country where the Constitution mattered and where "the Rule of Law" was honored

this would be an incredible rebuke.

Lawyers would seek other professions and their firms would spend years doing pro-bono to try to get back on the right side.

Instead this lawless regime is putting up cardboard cut-outs of lawyers (Liberty U degrees?) and using the courtroom as a place to promote idiocy and propaganda.

It almost seems that this regime doesn't care if it wins or loses. They think they are on a trajectory where the Rule of Law is an archaic term.

[OldBaldy1701E]

2. "It almost seems that this regime doesn't care if it wins or loses."

I think In some aspects of the whole thing, you are correct.

They are 'gumming up the works'.