The Trump administration has made it clear that it won’t let Section 702 of FISA lapse, citing its importance for counterterrorism efforts. Interestingly, however, there seems to be a different attitude when it comes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The administration is eager to arm ICE with resources to deport criminal aliens, but without the lengthy trials in front of sanctuary judges.
Throwing additional funding at ICE through the Budget Reconciliation Act won’t resolve the ongoing issues with unfulfilled deportation promises. Simply put, more money without a policy change doesn’t seem effective.
While Trump has celebrated various victories in the Supreme Court on matters of due process, detention, and bail hearings, lower courts appear to be ignoring these rulings consistently.
On the same day that House Republicans hurried to pass the reauthorization of FISA at the White House’s urging, they also approved a Senate budget reconciliation bill granting $75 billion in mandatory funding for ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the rest of the president’s time in office.
It’s not hard to see why President Trump would want to leverage this last partisan bill to boost ICE funding amidst opposition from Democrats. But then one might wonder, what’s the point of funding ICE if it can’t deport illegal aliens? Why resist efforts from House conservatives to expand this reconciliation?
It’s disheartening, really. The Trump administration has hinted that mass deportations are nearly finished and will focus on what they describe as “the worst of the worst.” The idea, perhaps, is that they’ll get rid of all criminal aliens by the end of his term. But, uh, that might not be quite right.
Take the case of Brian Rafael Gomez, a Dominican illegal who was sent back to the Dominican Republic in 2022. He was apprehended by Boston ICE on April 4th due to a murder warrant from his home country. Yet Judge Melissa DuBose, appointed by Biden, ruled for his release, claiming his detention wasn’t lawful.
This kind of legal wrangling appears to happen daily. Even with clear statutes and numerous Supreme Court wins—indicating ICE has the authority to arrest, detain, and remove individuals—lower court judges seem to keep issuing similar rulings but with different plaintiffs.
As of February, there were over 18,000 habeas petitions filed by illegal aliens challenging their detention during Trump’s second term. This far surpasses the sum of similar filings from the last three administrations combined.
The aim of these motions? To transfer cases from immigration courts into Article III courts, where U.S. rights often get misapplied when someone is trying to fight an immigration status after a removal order.
The original intent behind habeas petitions was to provide a safety net for claims of nationality or mistaken identity. However, now they’re often used by illegal aliens to stall evictions, regardless of their obvious illegal status or even a criminal background.
Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge John DeGravels sanctioned the release of four illegal aliens from ICE custody—a decision made despite a final removal order. Among those released were:
- Ibrahim Ali Mohamed (Ethiopia): Convicted of sexual exploitation of minors, released based on Biden policy, removal order from September 2024.
- Luis Gaston-Sanchez (Cuba): Convicted of murder, assault, and robbery; removal order from 2001.
- Ricardo Blanco Chomato (Cuba): Convicted of serious crimes including murder and robbery; removal order from 2002.
- Francisco Rodriguez-Romero: Convicted of murder, removal order from 1995.
Three months later, these individuals faced new charges including rape and murder and will remain in the U.S. indefinitely.
Then there’s the case of Carlos Antonio Flores Miguel, a confirmed MS-13 member, who was released from ICE custody in March. He had illegally re-entered the U.S. multiple times and was the first to be released under Biden’s policies in 2022 after being arrested for violently resisting an ICE officer.
It seems unrealistic for Trump to expect to spend his remaining term tallying up deportations of the “worst of the worst,” especially when many deportations are being impeded.
This is precisely why it’s time to reconsider budget reconciliation and impose restrictions on funding federal court cases that have granted habeas corpus claims against illegal aliens—unless there’s a genuine claim of citizenship or mistaken identity. One wonders why Trump never got behind Texas Rep. Chip Roy’s proposal to include this aspect in the budget settlement.
Moreover, neglecting this provision in the current bill seems indefensible, given that deportations are effectively stalled.
Even if Trump and congressional Republicans are hesitant to apply this broadly, it should at least prevent lower courts from interfering with cases involving criminal illegal aliens.
The notion that the Supreme Court can be relied upon is somewhat laughable. Sure, Trump has won cases in the Supreme Court related to due process, but those lower courts? They continue to look the other way.
Take, for instance, the ruling in Trump v. Hawaii, which clarified presidential authority over visas and entry bans. Subsequently, a lower court judge issued an injunction against this ruling. The same sort of thing has happened when judges unilaterally grant temporary protected status, ignoring Supreme Court decisions.
Throughout both of Trump’s terms in office, there has yet to be any serious White House initiative to defund sanctuary cities, revise immigration laws, or strip courts of their jurisdiction over these matters.
These financial measures should be part of any adjustment. It’s baffling to keep pouring money into ICE when legal barriers remain and the White House appears to be catering to lower court orders.
Yet, as we witnessed with FISA reauthorization, Trump is seemingly fighting for his agendas. Perhaps if conservatives shifted resources away from sanctuary cities and judges and directed them to ICE, it might finally catch the attention of a president who pledged to end illegal immigration years ago.
