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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington said it does not have the resources to defend every case against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and will let judges rule on "many" petitions without government opposition.
In a letter to U.S. District Judge David Estudillo last month, Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Floyd said his office is dealing with a huge volume of immigration-related habeas corpus cases. These allow people to legally challenge their detention by the government, with dozens being filed each week.
As a result, he said his office will not defend "many" such cases going forward. His letter did not provide any details about how many cases could be affected.
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It comes as judges have repeatedly ruled against President Donald Trump’s administration in cases filed by detainees who say their detention by ICE is illegal.
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Case numbers have surged to record highs amid the administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown, with more than 93,000 immigration-related habeas cases filed across the country since Trump returned to office in January 2025, according to a ProPublica tracker.
The rulings have frustrated administration officials, while judges who have ordered the release of detainees have called out ICE for disregarding due process rights and, in some cases, violating court orders.
Newsweek has contacted Floyd’s office and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, for comment via email.
What Did Floyd’s Letter Say?
In his letter, Floyd said the surge in cases being filed has "severely impacted the government’s ability to respond" and also impacted the ability to deal with other unrelated civil litigation in the district.
Responding to each case initiates "protracted litigation" that consumes prosecutors’ time, including preparing and filing status reports, briefings and responses to motions and orders, he wrote.
"The USAO unfortunately does not have the available resources, at this juncture, to continue entering AUSA appearances" in every case, he wrote.
"Thus, going forward, in order to conserve resources, there will be many habeas cases in which the USAO will no longer assume responsibility for providing a defense on behalf of the respondents."
Trump Says Mass Deportation Policy ‘Too Tough'
In an interview that aired Sunday, Trump conceded that his administration was too aggressive on deportations and that it hurt Republicans in last week’s midterm elections.
Trump told CBS’ 60 Minutes that his immigration crackdown "both helped and hurt" Republicans in Tuesday's midterms, which saw Democrats recapture control of both the House and Senate.
"I think I got an A+ for closing up the border," he said.
"I get very high marks for getting the bad ones out. But I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs, that created one violation, or breaking of the law, and that was that they came into the country illegally.
"There is a large part of the country that think they should be put out and there's a large part of the country that they should be allowed to stay—if they are good people, working in a landscaping company or working in a hotel, or doing something, right? And in some cases, paying taxes."
Asked if he thought his deportation policy went too far, Trump said: "I think it was too tough. I think it might be too tough, yeah."
Trump’s remarks came after he promoted Stephen Miller, a key architect of the administration’s hardline immigration policies, to the role of White House chief of staff. Last year, Miller said the White House was exploring ways to expand its legal power to deport undocumented migrants, including by suspending habeas corpus.
Supreme Court to Review Mandatory Detention Policy
The U.S. Supreme Court in October said it would review a Trump administration policy denying bond hearings for certain immigrants. Floyd, a former immigration judge, has advocated for prohibiting immigration courts from granting bond to detainees.
The justices will consider whether immigrants accused of entering the country illegally must remain in government custody throughout their cases or if they are entitled to bond hearings before an immigration judge.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told Newsweek at the time that the agency is "glad that the Supreme Court will hear arguments regarding mandatory detention and opinions from the Board of Immigration Appeals and multiple federal courts of appeals that reflect the soundness of the Department's legal position."
The plaintiffs are immigrants represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Michael K.T. Tan, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants' Rights Project, said courts "have repeatedly and resoundingly rejected the Trump administration's radical misinterpretation of the law."
"Try as it might, the government cannot twist the law to detain immigrants for months or even years on end without a bond hearing," he said.
Most federal appeals courts have concluded that prolonged detention without bond hearings violates federal law, while the Fifth and Eighth Circuits have sided with the administration and ruled that immigrants accused of illegally entering and remaining in the U.S. must be detained while their deportation cases are pending.
Oral arguments in the case are expected in late February or early March 2027, according to the ACLU. A decision would be expected before the court’s term concludes in the summer of next year.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Tony Phillips.
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