In an unusual move, the Justice Department filed suit Tuesday against the entire Maryland federal judiciary over a standing order that bars the government from deporting undocumented immigrants for at least one day after they file a legal challenge to their detention.
“This lawsuit involves yet another regrettable example of the unlawful use of equitable powers to restrain the Executive,” the lawsuit reads.
It adds, “Specifically, Defendants have instituted an avowedly automatic injunction against the federal government, issued outside the context of any particular case or controversy…. by promulgating a standing order and amended standing order that require the court clerk to automatically enter an injunction against removing, or changing the legal status of, any alien detained in Maryland who files a habeas petition.”
The standing order was issued last month by the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland as courts across the country were seeking to manage a wave of emergency lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s aggressive moves to deport undocumented immigrants.
In this Jan. 27, 2025, file photo, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detain a person in Silver Spring, Md.
Alex Brandon/AP, FILE
The federal court in Maryland was home to the most high-profile of those cases, involving Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported to El Salvador in error and ultimately returned to the U.S. this month to face federal charges of unlawfully trafficking undocumented immigrants.
The judge overseeing Abrego Garcia’s civil case, Paula Xinis, is still considering whether to sanction government officials for their initial refusals to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s release, but now Xinis is among 16 other judges now listed as a defendant in this new civil lawsuit brought by the Justice Department.
The unusual move to sue every member of the federal judiciary in Maryland means that technically, no judge in the district can oversee the lawsuit.
In an attempt to address that issue, DOJ requested in a motion Wednesday that every judge in the district recuse themselves from the case and for it to be referred to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals “for assignment of a randomly selected district judge from another District or transfer to another District.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.