Court throws out lawsuit by Trump administration against all Maryland federal judges

By LEA SKENE Associated Press BALTIMORE AP A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the Trump administration s lawsuit against Maryland s entire federal bench over an order by the chief judge that stopped the immediate deportation of asylum seekers challenging their removals U S District Judge Thomas Cullen granted a request by the judges to toss the matter Related Articles A US tariff exemption for small orders ends Friday It s a big deal to specific shoppers and businesses Trump vows retaliation against countries with digital rules targeting US tech Trump moves to ban flag burning despite Supreme Court ruling that Constitution allows it Various FEMA staff call out Trump cuts in citizens letter of dissent CU s Colorado Springs campus thought it could avoid Trump s training crackdown Here s what happened Cullen was nominated to the federal bench by Trump in He serves in the Western District of Virginia but he was tapped to oversee the occurrence because all of Maryland s federal judges are named as defendants a highly peculiar circumstance that reflects the Republican administration s aggressive response to judges who slow or stop its policies Cullen expressed skepticism of the lawsuit during a hearing in August He questioned why it was necessary for the Trump administration to sue all the judges as a means of challenging the order Signed by Chief Maryland District Judge George L Russell III the order prevents the Trump administration from straightaway deporting any immigrants seeking review of their detention in Maryland district court It blocks their removal until p m on the second business day after their habeas corpus petition is filed The order says it aims to maintain existing conditions and the feasible jurisdiction of the court ensure immigrant petitioners are able to participate in court proceedings and access attorneys and give the cabinet fulsome opportunity to brief and present arguments in its defense The Justice Department which filed the suit in June says the automatic pause violates a Supreme Court ruling and impedes the president s authority to enforce immigration laws The department has grown increasingly frustrated by rulings blocking Trump s agenda repeatedly accusing federal judges of improperly impeding his powers The lawsuit was an extraordinary legal maneuver ratcheting up the administration s fight with the federal judiciary Attorneys for the Maryland judges argued the lawsuit was intended to limit the power of the judiciary to review certain immigration proceedings while the Trump administration pursues a mass deportation agenda The executive branch seeks to bring suit in the name of the United States against a co-equal branch of cabinet attorney Paul Clement commented during the hearing There really is no precursor for this suit Clement is a prominent conservative lawyer who served as solicitor general under Republican President George W Bush He listed several other avenues the administration could have taken to challenge the order such as filing an appeal in an individual habeas scenario Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Themins Hedges reported the executive was totally seeking relief from a legal roadblock preventing effective immigration enforcement The United States is a plaintiff here because the United States is being harmed she disclosed In an amended order pausing deportations Russell mentioned the court had received an influx of habeas petitions after hours that resulted in hurried and frustrating hearings in that obtaining clear and concrete information about the location and status of the petitioners is elusive Habeas petitions allow people to challenge their detention by the regime Attorneys for the Trump administration accused the Maryland judges of prioritizing a regular schedule writing in court documents that a sense of frustration and a desire for greater convenience do not give Defendants license to flout the law Among the judges named in the lawsuit is Paula Xinis who determined the Trump administration in March illegally deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador a development that briskly became a flashpoint in Trump s immigration crackdown Abrego Garcia was held in a notorious Salvadoran megaprison where he asserts to have been beaten and tortured The Trump administration later brought Abrego Garcia back to the U S and charged him with human smuggling in Tennessee which his attorneys characterized as an attempt to justify his erroneous deportation Xinis in recent times prohibited the administration from taking Abrego Garcia into immediate immigration custody if he s disclosed from jail pending trial Trump has railed against unfavorable judicial rulings and in one occurrence called for the impeachment of a federal judge in Washington who ordered planeloads of deported immigrants to be turned around In July the Justice Department filed a misconduct complaint against the judge