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Federal Judges Accused of Coordinating Behind the Scenes on Trump Immigration Cases
James Percival said seven Minnesota judges were ready to issue emergency orders as ICE moved detainees out of the state during the enforcement surge.
Minnesota federal judges regularly consulted one another and used email threads, clerk-created spreadsheets, and order templates while handling immigration detention cases tied to Operation Metro Surge.
The court received 1,116 habeas petitions in the first three months of 2026, compared with two during the same period the previous year, while staff worked up to 16-hour days.
Judge Eric Tostrud said judges independently decided each petition and reached different outcomes on some legal questions.
DHS General Counsel James Percival accused former Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz of conspiring with colleagues, while the Justice Department criticized judges’ public interviews.