Judge tears into ICE for 'pretextual' abuse of power in habeas case [View all]

Source: Law & Crime

Mar 4th, 2026, 7:48 am


A federal judge in New York harshly criticized immigration authorities for "pretextual" and "discriminatory" abuse of authority in the case of an immigrant who came to the country as a child.

The 24-page memorandum and order comes as a particularly voluble example of a "groundswell" in judicial opinion writing. Since the summer of 2025, hundreds of district court judges have — with varying shades of discontent — rejected controversial efforts to reshape how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) classifies immigrants in order to detain them.

In this case, the petitioner, Hesler Asaf Garcia Lanza, convinced U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown, who was appointed by President Donald Trump during his first term, that his arrest and detention were "unlawful acts." The government's behavior after the petitioner won release elicited unalloyed scorn from the court in its Tuesday order.

Garcia Lanza came to the country when he was 9 years old and was granted status under a "Congressionally-enacted program that provides a path to residency and U.S. citizenship," the court explains.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/this-isnt-how-things-are-supposed-to-work-in-america-judge-tears-into-ice-for-pretextual-abuse-of-power-in-habeas-case/