Exclusive: US considered charging Minnesota judges, lawyers in immigration crackdown, sources say
By: Sarah N. Lynch
The judges and defense lawyers discussed requesting virtual court hearings to protect defendants from being arrested by federal immigration officers.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The U.S. Justice Department explored bringing criminal charges against Minnesota judges and defense lawyers who discussed requesting virtual court hearings to protect defendants from being arrested by federal immigration officers, according to five people familiar with the matter. In February, FBI agents in Minneapolis opened a preliminary inquiry into whether local judges and defense attorneys obstructed immigration enforcement by requesting virtual hearings, and the concept was also pitched to law enforcement officials in Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal Justice Department deliberations.Reuters could not determine whether the probe is ongoing. To date, no judge or lawyer in Minnesota has been charged over the episode.
Two of the people familiar with the discussions said FBI and Justice Department leadership in Washington supported the probe.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
The probe was launched shortly after Emil Bove, the former Acting Deputy Attorney General who has since been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as an appellate judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, ordered prosecutors in a January 21 memo to pursue potential criminal cases against "state and local actors" for impeding immigration enforcement.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to vote on Bove's nomination on Thursday, with Democrats expected to oppose …
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Pathetic that activist judges are trying to circumvent the laws they are tasked to enforce. Wouldn't lose any sleep if they ended up in jail and charged like Dugan
Judges are not tasked with enforcing the laws. That is the role of the Executive branch. Judges decide what the law means and how it should be applied to the circumstances of a specific case.
Judges are not obliged to assist federal agents in catching anyone.
Tell it to the judge in Wisconsin who "escorted" a feral cat from her courtroom. You are correct. She didn't help.........anyone. Especially US citizens and the RULE OF LAW that no one is supposedly above. It was a virtue signal, only — and one that she will hopefully regret.
Yeah! And next time you see anyone speeding, you should chase them down and citizen arrest them, otherwise we're not doing our job as Americans enforcing the law! Right? /s
Oh yeah, that's right, it's not my job to chase speeders. That's the Highway patrol's job, just like it wasn't any of these judges jobs to try and enforce immigration laws, they were simply debating how best to hold scheduled court cases without being hijacked by immigration police.
ICE has their jobs and they should do it and no one should obstruct them or attack them. Judges have their jobs and no one should obstruct them or attack them.
Why would anyone with more than half a brain believe that NOT doing someone else's job for them is somehow meaning that someone else is "above the law"? Are all those speeders I saw this morning that I didn't chase down and citizen arrest "above the law" and am I guilty of aiding and abetting them? The very idea is ridiculous as is the monumentally moronic premise that any cities, local officials, judges and average American citizens are somehow now mini-ICE agents that are supposed to report on their neighbors and call in any "suspicious" Spanish speaking brown people like the dumb-as-shit MAGAites seem to believe is every Americans job now.
Maybe you should just concern yourself with how our Constitution and laws actually work instead of demanding allegiance and obedience to the cult from everyone.
You contradict yourself in that whole statement.
And if they aren't tasked with enforcing the law, then why id Dugar in jail?
He didn't demand anybody do a goddamn thing.[✘]
Perhaps you should do the same. I seem to remember that crossing the border illegally is a law that only some have a problem with being broken and therefore, enforced. Your justification and allegiance to the left and the flock of virtue signalers that follow them are quite becoming.
It's amazing how some people can't tell the difference between assisting and hindering.
and what happens when a "speeder" doesn't show up to court? Oh, the judge issues a warrant for his or her arrest, wait.....isn't that enforcing the law.
Most speeders pay a fine because it's a misdemeanor, just like being in this country without papers. If the violation does require a court date then the judge can choose to use Zoom for the court hearing as many courts have done during Covid and are still using as it can save taxpayers a lot of money. But if it is required to have an in-court appearance for speeding, does that judge now have the right to investigate the speeder for possible embezzlement at his company even if his boss shows up in court and screams about him stealing money? Of course not, that would be ridiculous, the employer would need to file a complaint and press charges and sometime in the future another court date would be scheduled, just like it would if an undocumented immigrant is in court for a reason other than their immigration status. They could be there for a custody hearing or as a witness, why would it be the judge's responsibility to hand them over to ICE?
They aren't?
Judges decide what the law means and how it should be applied to the circumstances of a specific case.
Which judges?
Judges are not obliged to assist federal agents in catching anyone.
Nor are they to obstruct federal agents.
That is the crux of it.
Do you really believe that?
Yes. A judge is supposed to rule on cases before him with as little bias as possible. If he's judicating a case against a murderer and one of the witnesses to the crime is an undocumented immigrant, why the FUCK would it be that judge's job to make sure that undocumented immigrant gets grabbed as soon as they finish testifying? That judge should be concerned with the case they have before them, not to nitpick whether the plaintiff paid their taxes or didn't speed on the way to court. Now, if it comes out in the case that a witness in the trial is an undocumented immigrant then that can be noted and the information sent to ICE so they can go arrest them and do what they need to do away from the court and the case. In fact, in the interest of justice they probably should be waving the potential misdemeanor charges so that the witness has no other potential motive to lie.
Otherwise, what you have are potentially millions of people who, even if they're the only eyewitness the rape and murder of some white rightwing conservative woman, will never intentionally set foot in an American courthouse and would certainly never come forward with the description of the evil fucker who raped and murdered that woman. Why? Because they're too frightened to come forward because of the xenophobic weak, cowardly, rightwing conservative dickholes afraid of 'their' country turning brown by welcoming too many immigrants who don't look like them or speak like them. Though I guess I could see how the rightwing conservative might have an additional motive for wanting them deported as soon as possible, that being they were the murdering raping suspect in the case. They do tend to commit violent crimes at a MUCH higher rate than undocumented immigrants.
Perhaps we should add that as another reason rightwing conservatives want to get rid of undocumented immigrants, so they have fewer witnesses testifying against them when they beat their wives.
If an ILLEGAL MIGRANT is on trial for anything, an unbiased judge need only concern himself with the trial aspects of the case. He doesn't have to turn over an ILLEGAL MIGRANT, but he absolutely may not aid in the ILLEGAL MIGRANT'S escape either.
Otherwise, what you have are potentially millions of people who, even if they're the only eyewitness the rape and murder of some white rightwing conservative woman, will never intentionally set foot in an American courthouse and would certainly never come forward with the description of the evil fucker who raped and murdered that woman.
Few ILLEGAL MIGRANTS go to Court, when given a court date, in the very cases the radical left wants held for them, such as Asylum & Deportation hearings. You say they are frightened? It may be something else, but it is all the more reason for those wishing to immigrate to try and come to a country legally.
Why? Because they're too frightened to come forward because of the xenophobic weak, cowardly, rightwing conservative dickholes afraid of 'their' country turning brown by welcoming too many immigrants who don't look like them or speak like them.
I doubt that. They can see the radical violent leftists on tv attaching ICE & Police, as well as democrat politicians advocating for them. BTW, if it were a racist country, why would upwards of about 40 million non-whites have risked their lives since the time of Reagan to get in? Why would the leftists who pulled Biden's strings allow upwards of 10 million to simply walk in with vetting them for criminal backgrounds or covid infections?
Though I guess I could see how the rightwing conservative might have an additional motive for wanting them deported as soon as possible, that being they were the murdering raping suspect in the case. They do tend to commit violent crimes at a MUCH higher rate than undocumented immigrants.
How would we know the rate of crime committed by people who are unknown? All we can really say is that a crime committed by an ILLEGAL ALIEN is a crime that never should have happened because they shouldn't have been here.
Perhaps we should add that as another reason rightwing conservatives want to get rid of undocumented immigrants, so they have fewer witnesses testifying against them when they beat their wives.
That is really a stupid comment, and I've become tired of reading them on this site.
" The U.S. Justice Department explored bringing criminal charges against Minnesota judges and defense lawyers who discussed requesting virtual court hearings to protect defendants from being arrested by federal immigration officers, according to five people familiar with the matter."
These judges were NOT aiding "illegal migrants to escape" as you claim. They simply discussed whether they should use virtual court in these cases as they had during Covid which many court houses have set up and are using for other reasons already (that's how I and my foster daughter attended our last custody court hearing).
I know you like to lean heavy into that word "illegal". It is what many xenophobic Americans tend to do as they try and mask their bigotry with "the law". Being here without papers is a misdemeanor yet I don't hear you calling anyone who makes an illegal U-turn an " ILLEGAL ". The continued moronic defense I hear day in and day out is so fucking transparent.
That is not a claim. It has already happened. As you may recall: A Wisconsin judge, Hannah Dugan , was arrested for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade federal agents during a court hearing.
That’s not true. This myth is spread, especially in conservative media and political propaganda, to further demonize these people, making it more acceptable to be cruel to them. Consider that we wouldn’t even be talking about judges and undocumented people - and ICE arresting those people - if they weren’t in court in the first place.
Nice try. We wouldn't be talking about any of this if they
You are crying over something these illegals did to themselves.
If you have a court date, you are in the country legally.
If they’re in court, they are following our rules.
Somewhere a child and her family are hiding. They will be found, incarcerated, deported and sent to camps ran by those from which they had fled. Therein to face deprivation and death, ala Anne Frank.
To be rooted out. Treated like a feral cat...
Mayhaps that child will write a biography!
If one crosses the border at any point that is NOT an authorized entry point - they are here ILLEGALLY. Making the whole problem something they inflicted on themselves.
What a pathetic and fictional analogy.
Then don't come into the country illegally. There, problem solved.
So, reading comprehension isn't a strong suit then I guess.
Try again, and look at what I wrote: "These judges were NOT aiding "illegal migrants to escape" as you claim."
I was talking about this article and this incident and these judges who were NOT aiding "illegal migrants to escape". You just posted a different case from a different State of a judge who did get arrested for actually breaking the law. The judges in the seed above did not do that and that is what is being discussed here. Should judges be charged with a crime for daring to even discuss using virtual hearings so that undocumented immigrants taking part in any cases do not have to come to the courthouse where they potentially could be grabbed by ICE? And is it a Judges job to do ICE's job for them? Those are the questions at hand. In both cases I believe the resounding answer is "Fuck NO!".
Wow. Trivializing the Holocaust. Nice.
You do not deny the truth of my post...
People are hiding American children!
In attics, subfloors, barns and closets.
Like Germans of 1940 MAGA approve.
Exactly whose laws made it illegal for Anne Frank to be in the Netherlands? To be Deported to Auchwitz? To be killed?
Why didn't the Franks move to America?
After all, there weren't MAGA yet. Oops!
Fucking Nazis!
You don't know history? That's high school level stuff.
And there went any possibility of having an adult conversation with you.
Hyperbolic comments like that don’t sway thinking people.
Apparently MAGA supports those actions taken by Germany at that time because it was "the law".
So as long as they're "illegals" according to the law, then hunting them down like rats in attics and basements like the Gestapo used to do is not only legal but the right thing to do! /s
Remind us what Nazis did to Judges who tried to protect human rights of refugees hiding in territories they conquered...
In Netherlands and Denmark and Holland.
I think that if there were truth in it, it would be discussed. Given there isn't any...
Since that's not happening...
This article is about that happening!
Today! In America! Where are you at?
[✘]
To be fair and at least somewhat realistic, the article also says "Reuters could not determine whether the probe is ongoing. To date, no judge or lawyer in Minnesota has been charged over the episode".
So what we have here is a rumor.
Oh FFS.
No shortage of insane melodrama today.
By all means, keep comparing the legal deportation of foreigners to the murder of six million people. . It makes you completely rational.
Where is this?
If my grandmother had wheels, she’d have been a wagon.
That is to say if you change the circumstances, then your analysis changes. That’s what you did. You ignored the court date part and substituted your own circumstances.
A person who entered without permission is present illegally….UNTIL and/or UNLESS they apply for asylum and are granted a court date. In that circumstance, they are now in the country with permission, and therefore: legally.
I've never said these judges were arrested, it's just that "according to five people familiar with the matter" so yes, a rumor, the Justice department was or is "exploring bringing criminal charges" against these judges, for what, so far, is a thought crime.
So perhaps its just a rumor and there is no validity to it, but already you have conservatives here seeming to support the arrest of judges who dare commit such thought crimes. Like I keep saying, it's not just a whiff of fascism coming from conservatives and Trump, it's an overwhelming reek.
[✘]
Exactly.
We have liberals supporting the "seizure of the means of production". That doesn't mean it's anything related to reality.
Because you're looking for that. You're going around with your fascism sniffing dog and using that specialty filter to convince yourself that your own side does no wrong.
Where? Here? I know I've never advocated for a government takeover of any private industry, not even the health care industry, and I don't hear any other progressives calling for that either. Is that what they call a "what-about-ism" fail?
When we may have an administration contemplating using the justice department to charge judges with crimes simply because they discussed using virtual hearings so as to not endanger plaintiffs, witnesses and suspects who may be undocumented immigrants, you don't have to look for the fascism, it's right fucking there.
Let's just swap a few names and see if it still sounds so innocent...
Why would you assume I meant you personally?
Zohran Mamdani has referred to seizing the means of production as "the end goal". The Democratic Socialists of America platform includes "worker and community ownership and control of the means of production within the framework of a democratically determined economic plan".
The fact that you don't hear it was exactly the point.
The other point is that it's nonsense and never going to happen. Just because people want something or are "contemplating" something doesn't mean it's going to happen.
You mean when we have a completely unverified rumor of that.
The circumstances are they crossed the border at a point that is NOT an authorized entry point - they are here ILLEGALLY.
Now you're catching on.
If you refuse to acknowledge the whole situation and insist on dishonestly representing what I write, we can’t talk.
I acknowledged the whole situation, just not the falsehood you are pushing.
The object of these activist judges has been to grind down the enforcement of immigration law.
And now the left is crying because that isn't working the way they expected.
It would have if Harris had won. Thank God she didn’t.
It's up to them if they want to run their courtroom live or over video. Why doesn't matter.
if they can't handle the work load they might look into a different job. They can learn to code.
Why would it have anything to do with workload?
It's arguably a much more efficient and cost effective way to do any meeting.
A meeting. Not a hearing.
A hearing is a type of meeting.
We've been doing court hearings via video since 2020.
So is a UFC match.
And we've been doing them in person for over 200 years.
Which we watch over video. Or are you suggesting the judge is going to fistfight the defendant?
For more than half of those, we also used inkwells. Should we go back to that? Or is it OK to acknowledge that technology gives us new ways to communicate.
True but how operationally effective is it? Much is lost without in person, face to face contact. One of the reasons many companies brought their people back to an office. At least part of the time.
Fair question, and I suspect it depends on a myriad of factors. Do you really need to be face to face in probate court? Traffic court?
Regardless, one of the primary functions of the judiciary is to check the power of Congress and the POTUS. That can't exist if we don't allow them to make decisions.
Hadn't heard about this but I'm not surprised if Minneapolis is involved. For those interested is such trivia, St. Paul is the capital of Minnesota. Minneapolis is on west side of the Mississippi but seems to be in a different country.
Well said. The question I keep asking is how did Minneapolis become that way?
Many people like Omar settled there as ‘refugees’ and brought their ideals, ideology and hate for America with them.
Case in point is Omar herself has repeatedly put Somalia in front of the US
Meh. I think you're underestimating the effectiveness of our own domestic left wing indoctrination.
It is strange that refugees would act like Omar.
It is kind of like those illegal migrants in LA waving the flag of the country they don't want to go back to while burning the flag of the country they came to.