'Indefensible': Trump-appointed judge rebukes ICE, threatens contempt for 'transgressions' in 'chillingly brutal' case

Source: Law & Crime

Dec 19th, 2025, 9:06 am


A judge with a penchant for magic signaled he could pull contempt proceedings out of his hat, dressing down the Department of Homeland Security and ICE for sleights of hand about the "disturbing" detention of a Jamaican man in a "hold room" inside a federal courthouse on Long Island.

U.S. District Judge Gary Brown, appointed to the bench for life by President Donald Trump in 2019 following his eight years as a U.S. magistrate judge in the Eastern District of New York, said at the start of his ruling that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency within Secretary Kristi Noem's DHS, submitted "sworn evidence" supported by "rank hearsay and demonstrably false statements," "ignored at least three court directives," and "blatantly refused to comply with a court order" in the habeas corpus case of Erron Anthony Clarke.

Clarke is a noncitizen from Jamaica who in 2018 legally entered the U.S. for work but overstayed his visa, and then married a U.S. citizen in 2023 — "which may entitle him to permanent residency in the United States," a status he had applied for, according to court documents.

In fact, documents said, Clarke "truthfully" volunteered to DHS that he had overstayed his visa while his wife sponsored his permanent resident status application in early November. As part of the application, he was subsequently issued a "Biometrics Notice" to appear on Dec. 5 in Hauppauge to be fingerprinted, and ICE arrested him a short time later that same day, the judge added.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/indefensible-trump-appointed-judge-rebukes-ice-threatens-contempt-for-transgressions-in-chillingly-brutal-case/