Free Republic

A federal judge on Friday temporarily halted deportations of eight immigrants to war-torn South Sudan the day after the Supreme Court greenlighted their removal, saying new claims by the immigrants’ lawyers deserved a hearing. District Judge Randolph Moss proceeded with the extraordinary Fourth of July hearing on Friday afternoon, directing the Trump administration to discuss whether a prior Supreme Court ruling that immigrants slated for removal under an 18th century wartime act invoked by President Donald Trump deserve due process might also apply to those due to be removed to South Sudan. The administration has been trying to deport the...

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with plans to overhaul the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by reorganizing several of its agencies and substantially cutting their workforce. U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose in Providence, Rhode Island, issued an injunction at the behest of a group of Democratic-led states who challenged a plan HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced in March to consolidate agencies and fire 10,000 of the department’s employees. The layoffs, in addition to earlier buyout offers and firings of probationary employees, reduced the number of full-time HHS employees to...

Today, the Department of Justice announced the filing of a complaint against the U.S. District Court of Maryland for implementing a “Standing Order” that automatic injunctions be issued for federal immigration enforcement actions. This order requires the court clerk to automatically enter an injunction against removing or challenging the legal status of any alien detained in Maryland who files a habeas petition. In doing so, the District Court defies procedural and substantive requirements for issuing preliminary injunctions, flouts congressional intent, and violates Supreme Court precedent.“President Trump’s executive authority has been undermined since the first hours of his presidency by an...

Everything Democrats warned about before Trump returned to office is exactly what they’re either now celebrating or dismissing. President Donald Trump’s second term has been plagued by leftist-led lawfare — with unelected, inferior court judges usurping executive authority in an effort to obstruct or dictate presidential actions. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer admitted in a March interview with Kristen Welker that lawfare is part of Democrats’ success strategy. “Now we have to fight that back in every single way. And we actually have had over 100 cases in the courts where we’ve had a very good record of success. So...

The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the entire federal district court of Maryland on Tuesday. The lawsuit challenges a standing order issued by the court to automatically block the deportation of any illegal migrant who files a petition for writ of habeas corpus. It names all 15 judges, as well as the court clerk, as defendants. “Defendants’ automatic injunction issues whether or not the alien needs or seeks emergency relief, whether or not the court has jurisdiction over the alien’s claims, and no matter how frivolous the alien’s claims may be,” the lawsuit states. “And it does so in the...

The Supreme Court ruled that Trump's deportations to third-world countries can continue without limited notice, blocking an injunction by a little judge who sought to wrest immigration policy away from the executive. The high court slapped down Judge Brian Murphy’s order, but like James Boasberg, another disgrace to the bench, he’s ignoring the ruling.

A federal judge blocked deportations for eight migrants Monday night, appearing to sidestep a Supreme Court order issued just hours before. The Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration earlier on Monday to move forward with quickly deporting illegal migrants to countries not specified in their removal orders. The ruling pausing an injunction issued by Judge Brian Murphy, a Biden appointee, which required the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to give migrants notice and allow them to raise concerns about potential threats of torture before deporting them to a “third country.” However, Murphy issued an order Monday night blocking immediate removal...

A federal judge in Massachusetts on Friday further blocked the Trump administration's attempt to revoke Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students while giving those students additional legal protections. U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs issued the preliminary injunction after having granted a temporary restraining order against the federal government this month. The injunction holds that the administration is blocked from yanking Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, which was based on a May 22 revocation notice the Department of Homeland Security sent to Harvard administrators. In her decision, Burroughs directed the government to “immediately” prepare guidance to alert...

US District Judge Brian Murphy on Monday evening defied the US Supreme Court and said his order barring deportation of illegal aliens to South Sudan remains in effect. In a 6-3 decision, the US Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump Administration to resume deporting illegal aliens to ‘third-party’ countries. The Supreme Court granted the Trump Administration’s emergency application and paused Judge Brian Murphy’s order blocking the third-country removals.

BREAKING: A Federal Magistrate judge just DENIED a motion to keep Kilmar Abrego Garcia in custody for human trafficking charges, pending trial.

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. government to free former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from the immigration detention center where he has been held since early March while the Trump administration sought to deport him over his role in pro-Palestinian protests. Ruling from the bench in New Jersey, U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz said it would be “highly, highly unusual” for the government to continue to detain a legal U.S. resident who was unlikely to flee and hadn’t been accused of any violence. In reaching his decision, he said Khalil is likely...

Politics Judge orders release of Columbia activist Mahmoud Khalil from ICE detention By Updated on: June 20, 2025 / 3:13 PM EDT / CBS News A federal judge in New Jersey on Friday ordered that Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil must be released from detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as his immigration proceedings play out. During a hearing before U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz, Khalil's attorneys asked him to free Khalil from detention or transfer him to New Jersey. Farbiarz agreed, determining that Khalil is not a threat to the community, not a flight risk and that his detention...

Florida officials are pushing back after a federal judge temporarily blocked the enforcement of a new state law targeting undocumented immigrants. State Attorney General James Uthmeier was held in civil contempt earlier this year after sending a memo arguing that the judge’s order was legally flawed and did not prevent law enforcement from upholding the law, which was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis. "She wanted me to direct all of our state law enforcement to stand down on enforcing Florida's new state immigration law, and I was not [going to] do that," Uthmeier said Thursday during an appearance on "America...

A federal judge ruled Monday it was illegal for the Trump administration to cancel several hundred research grants, adding that the cuts raise serious questions about racial discrimination. U.S. District Judge William Young in Massachusetts said the administration’s process was “arbitrary and capricious” and that it did not follow long-held government rules and standards when it abruptly canceled grants deemed to focus on gender identity or diversity, equity and inclusion. In a hearing Monday on two cases calling for the grants to be restored, the judge pushed government lawyers to offer a formal definition of DEI, questioning how grants could...

A federal judge in California has halted the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R-FIMI) Hub, formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC). In a June 13 order, US District Judge Susan Illston declared that the planned elimination of the unit, part of a broader push by the administration to downsize the federal government, violates an earlier injunction. Secretary of State Marco Rubio may have prematurely celebrated the end of R-FIMI back in April when he said the censorship unit was “dead.” Despite his announcement, legal barriers remain in place, preserving...

Obama-appointed Judge Kathleen M. Williams of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida holds Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier in contempt of court over enforcing Florida's anti-illegal immigration laws, cooperating with the Trump admin Uthmeier had said that a prior order from the judge did not apply to law enforcement on halting immigration actions because they were not party to the case.

A federal judge in Maryland on Friday ruled that President Donald Trump lacked the authority to fire three Democratic members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and ordered their reinstatement — teeing up another high-stakes court clash centered on Trump's ability as commander-in-chief to remove or otherwise control the members of independent agencies. U.S. District Judge Matthew Maddox, a Biden appointee, sided with the three ousted members of the board — Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric and Richard Trumka Jr. — in ruling that their firings were unlawful and ordered all three members to be reinstated to their posts. In...

A second federal judge on Friday blocked an executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at overhauling elections in the U.S. Trump's March 25 executive order sought to compel officials to require documentary proof of citizenship for everyone registering to vote for federal elections, accept only mailed ballots received by Election Day and condition federal election grant funding on states adhering to the new ballot deadline."The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections," Judge Denise J. Casper of the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts said in Friday's ruling.Order here: Court's Order

The judge says the president didn’t cite an actual invasion and that he violated the Fifth Amendment. A federal judge in Texas became the latest on June 9 to hold that President Donald Trump had misapplied the Alien Enemies Act in attempting to remove from the United States purported members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang. In a 56-page opinion, U.S. District Judge David Briones said that Trump violated the Constitution’s guarantee of due process and failed to demonstrate that Tren de Aragua (TdA) was engaged in the type of invasion that allowed presidents to invoke the Act. His...

BOSTON – A federal judge in Boston on Thursday temporarily blocked US President Donald Trump from barring US entry of foreign nationals seeking to study or participate in exchange programs at Harvard University. Under a two-page temporary restraining order granted to Harvard, US District Judge Allison Burroughs enjoined Trump’s proclamation from taking effect pending further litigation of the matter amid an escalating dispute between the Ivy League school and Republican president. The judge ruled that Trump’s directive prohibiting foreign nationals from entering the United States to study at Harvard for the next six months would cause “immediate and irreparable injury”...