Federal judges in Minnesota coordinated to blunt President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, according to a New York Times report published Thursday.
Judges Share Templates and Stay On Call
They exchanged legal templates and remained reachable 24/7 as case volume surged.
Judge Patrick Shiltz told The New York Times the vigilance was essential because “the cost of me enjoying a movie could be somebody waking up in New Mexico the next day when they shouldn’t have.”
He added that most noncompliance stemmed from incompetence, not deliberate defiance.
Judge Katherine Menendez responded to a request from a restaurant coat room on her iPad, illustrating the judges’ constant availability.
Nationwide Ripple Effects
Other district judges mirrored the strategy, using rulings to warn the administration about the rule of law.
In West Virginia, a judge threatened contempt; in New Jersey, a judge ordered the Justice Department to compile a list of non‑compliant cases; in Texas, a judge decried what he called “the perfidious lust for unbridled power.”
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a Reagan‑appointed appellate judge, said via email that “the sanctity of court orders” unites judges across the political spectrum and praised Schiltz as part of a “brotherhood of judges.”
Conclusion
The coordinated effort underscores growing judicial pushback against the Trump administration’s immigration policies, signaling a continued battle over executive authority and judicial independence.
