Top DOJ official asks judges to step aside from immigration cases
Summary
A top Justice Department official has asked two federal judges in Minnesota to step away from immigration cases, citing comments they made about the Trump administration’s immigration actions. The requests claim the judges showed possible bias, but legal experts say such motions are unusual and likely to fail.Key Facts
- Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward filed motions to remove Judges Patrick Schiltz and John Tunheim from immigration-related cases.
- The judges spoke to the New York Times about their concerns with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minnesota called Operation Metro Surge.
- Schiltz is handling a case where the Trump administration wants to revoke a man’s U.S. citizenship.
- Tunheim is overseeing a case involving a South African woman charged with illegal voting in the 2024 election; she pleads not guilty.
- Woodward argues the judges’ public comments show bias and question their fairness in these cases.
- Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., was also asked to recuse herself from a Trump-related case but rejected the request.
- Experts say it is rare for the Justice Department to publicly seek judges’ recusals, and such efforts usually fail.
- Judicial ethics rules discourage judges from discussing ongoing cases publicly, but these judges did comment on immigration policy.
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