The Guardian identified at least 20 US cases in which ICE re-detained immigrants released after courts granted habeas petitions. Judges have criticized violations of release orders, and some officials face contempt proceedings. ICE, the Defense Department and the FBI also posted Halloween videos.
The Guardian identified at least 20 cases across the US over the past year in which ICE re-detained immigrants released from custody after courts granted habeas corpus petitions. Lawyers link some of the re-arrests to the Trump administration's policy of deporting immigrants to third countries where they have no citizenship or personal ties.
Minnesota and Louisiana cases
In Minnesota, seven immigrants were re-detained before they had even left the detention facility at the Whipple Federal Building near Minneapolis. Daniel Sutor, who represents two of the seven, said that handing people directly over to several officers did not comply with the court order for their release. In Louisiana, a federal judge held a senior federal immigration official in contempt of court for violating orders in the case of Ibrahim Mohammed. The judge demanded his release after ICE had re-arrested him three times.
Lawyers and courts respond
Bridget Pranzatelli, an attorney with the National Immigration Project, said there has been a very sharp increase in people released on habeas petitions only to be rapidly re-detained, often in violation of the federal court's order. She said her 77-year-old client, Akram Mahmoud Omar, was re-detained by ICE within 10 days of his release. Several federal judges have criticized immigration authorities for violating release orders, with some officials facing contempt proceedings. In an October ruling, the 10th US circuit court of appeals rejected the government's attempt to dismiss a habeas petition on the grounds that it had the power to re-detain the petitioner. The court cited a previously demonstrated pattern of re-detaining non-citizens granted habeas relief.
Research by ProPublica found that immigrants have filed more than 91,000 habeas petitions amid increased immigration enforcement. Since January 25, more have been filed than during the previous three presidential administrations combined.
Halloween videos
ICE posted a one-minute Halloween video on X set to Michael Jackson's "Thriller". The video opened with horror film icons and then showed arrests and migrants in detention. The post was captioned with a Halloween greeting from ICE. The Department of Defense posted its own Halloween video on X, mixing missile launches and troops in action with excerpts of Trump promising to kill drug traffickers. The FBI published an animated video with a caricature of director Kash Patel, adapting the lyrics of "Thriller" to highlight statistics about what it described as a crime rate drop.
