BREAKING: Over 100 federal judges kick Trump in the teeth by rejecting his cruel new mass detention policy — including 12 that he personally appointed.
In a stunning and bipartisan rebuke, more than 100 federal judges — including a dozen appointed by Donald Trump himself — have slammed the Trump administration’s draconian new immigration policy that effectively orders ICE to jail everyone facing deportation, regardless of how long they’ve lived in the U.S. or whether they’ve ever committed a crime.
This sweeping “mandatory detention” order, quietly implemented by Trump’s Department of Homeland Security earlier this year, overturned 30 years of established law and practice, stripping immigrants of their basic right to even ask for release on bond while awaiting a hearing.
Now, judges across the country are saying enough is enough.
According to an article in POLITICO, judges appointed by every president since Ronald Reagan have rejected Trump’s extreme policy, calling it an unlawful power grab that violates the Constitution and basic due process.
U.S. District Judge Kyle Dudek, a Trump appointee, put it bluntly: “Courts around the country have rejected the government’s new interpretation. This Court now joins the consensus.”
Other Trump-appointed judges — including Terry Doughty (Louisiana), Nancy Brasel (Minnesota), J.P. Hanlon (Indiana), and Jason Pulliam (Texas) — have also ruled against the administration’s position.
Judge Pulliam, a former federal prosecutor, found that ICE had violated a detainee’s constitutional rights after jailing him with no individualized assessment of whether he posed any danger at all.
Even longtime conservative judges are appalled. The rulings, which span hundreds of individual cases, describe parents torn from U.S. citizen children, lawful residents sent to far-flung detention centers, and immigrants held indefinitely without a hearing — all based on a distorted and politically motivated reading of immigration law.
The backlash has been overwhelming. Federal courts from coast to coast have ruled that Trump’s new interpretation of immigration law is flat-out wrong.
Judge Richard Boulware, appointed by President Obama, summarized the consensus: “The overwhelming majority of district courts across the country … have found [the Trump administration’s] new statutory interpretation incorrect and unlawful.”
According to POLITICO’s review, judges appointed by Democratic presidents issued 87 rulings against Trump’s detention policy — but Republican-appointed judges handed down 27 more. That’s 114 judges from across the political spectrum rejecting the same authoritarian scheme.
Only two judges in the entire country have sided with Trump.
Under Trump’s twisted interpretation, anyone living in the U.S. — even someone who has been here legally for decades — could be classified as an “applicant for admission,” making them subject to “mandatory detention.”
That’s right: Trump’s ICE wanted the power to jail any immigrant at any time, with no judge, no hearing, and no due process. The result? A legal and humanitarian disaster. Families separated. Breadwinners vanished. Immigrants showing up for routine check-ins suddenly detained without warning and shipped across the country.
Even ICE insiders were reportedly overwhelmed, describing “chaotic” directives and “unmanageable caseloads” as the Trump team pressured agents to speed up deportations at any cost.
It’s not just Democrats calling out the cruelty — Trump’s own appointees are refusing to carry out his anti-immigrant crusade. Judge Dudek, appointed by Trump in Florida, joined others in ruling that the administration’s policy defied decades of precedent.
Judge Pulliam, another Trump appointee, blasted ICE for violating detainees’ constitutional rights. Their rulings echo what civil rights groups have warned all along: that Trump’s immigration agenda isn’t about “law and order” — it’s about punishing immigrants, silencing dissent, and testing the limits of executive power.
The Trump administration, true to form, isn’t backing down. The Department of Justice and DHS have vowed to appeal the rulings, calling the detention policy a “top national security priority.”
But with courts across America — red states and blue — calling Trump’s interpretation unconstitutional, legal experts say the administration faces an uphill battle.
Meanwhile, families continue to be torn apart as the appeals process drags on.
Trump’s new detention policy isn’t just illegal — it’s un-American.
It’s the logical extension of his “zero tolerance” cruelty, turning ICE into a weapon against immigrant communities while shredding constitutional protections for everyone.
But this time, even Trump’s own judges are saying: No. Enough! The judiciary is drawing a line in the sand — and for once, it’s not a partisan one.
America is still a nation of laws — and not even Donald Trump gets to rewrite them.