Immigration · Report · File No. 261110-317
Seattle U.S. attorney's office will stop defending 'many' ICE detention cases
Federal prosecutors in Western Washington say they lack the staff to answer every challenge to immigration detention. Judges may now rule on many of those challenges with no government opposition, which could mean more detainees go free.
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The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington says it does not have the resources to defend every case brought against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It will let judges rule on "many" petitions without government opposition, Newsweek reported Tuesday 1.
Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Floyd laid this out in a letter last month to U.S. District Judge David Estudillo 1. The letter did not say how many cases could be affected 1.
What the letter says
The cases are habeas corpus petitions. These let people go to court to challenge being held by the government, and Floyd wrote that dozens are being filed each week in his district 1.
Floyd said the surge has "severely impacted the government's ability to respond." It has also hurt the office's ability to handle other civil cases, he wrote 1. Each case starts "protracted litigation," including status reports, briefs and responses to motions and orders 1.
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Newsweek said it had contacted Floyd's office and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, for comment 1. The report did not include a response from either.
A flood of cases
Nationwide, more than 93,000 immigration-related habeas cases have been filed since Trump returned to office in January 2025, according to a ProPublica tracker 1. Judges who ordered detainees released have accused ICE of disregarding due process rights and, in some cases, violating court orders 1.
The strain in Seattle was visible earlier this year. The Seattle Times reported in April that the Western Washington court got more than six times as many immigration habeas petitions in 2025 as in President Joe Biden's last year in office 2. Judge Tiffany Cartwright described "several cases for each judge each week" 2.
In that same report, Floyd said that when it comes to court orders, "Sometimes (Homeland Security) listens to me," he said, "sometimes they don't" 2.
Trump's own words
In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' 60 Minutes, Trump said his deportation policy "might be too tough," after Democrats retook the House and Senate in last week's midterms 1. He then promoted Stephen Miller, a key architect of the hardline policies, to White House chief of staff 1.
The Supreme Court said in October that it will review the administration's policy of denying bond hearings to certain immigrants. Arguments are expected in late February or early March 2027, with a ruling due by summer 1. Michael K.T. Tan of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said courts have rejected the administration's reading of the law 1.
Try as it might, the government cannot twist the law to detain immigrants for months or even years on end without a bond hearing
That matters because a petition that nobody opposes is far easier for a detainee to win. The letter does not say how the office will pick the cases it skips, and it does not promise that judges will free anyone. But it shows that the detention crackdown is straining the Justice Department itself.
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Sources
- Newsweek, “DOJ To Stop Defending ICE in 'Many' Detention Cases” (2026-11-10). newsweek.com/doj-to-stop-defending-ice-in-many-detention-cas
- The Spokesman-Review (Seattle Times), “WA federal courts flooded with immigration cases” (2026-04-02). spokesman.com/stories/2026/apr/02/wa-federal-courts-flooded-
Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.
More from the files
Trump tells CBS his deportation policy 'might be too tough' after midterm losses
In a 60 Minutes interview, the president said the crackdown 'both helped and hurt' him. Days earlier he put Stephen Miller, the policy's architect, in charge of his White House staff.
ICE unlikely to ease crackdown after midterm losses, officials say, citing Stephen Miller
Officials told CBS News no one at ICE has been told to ease up since Election Day, and the agency's arrest goal has gone up. That matters because 58% of voters said the crackdown had gone too far.
Miller backed arresting journalists to expose sources, report says; DOJ denies it
The Atlantic reports that White House and Justice Department officials discussed arresting reporters to make them name their confidential sources. Stephen Miller, the aide said to favor the idea, becomes White House chief of staff today. The report rests on unnamed sources, and the Justice Department calls it false.
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