Habeas 700
This morning, we hit the 700 mark in the number of habeas corpus cases filed in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota for 2026. We now stand at 713.
Over the 30 “business” days of the year, so far, that works out to almost 24 cases filed per day. That’s one case filed, every hour, seven days per week.
If anything, the pace of filings is accelerating.
The habeas cases all seek the release of one or more illegal aliens held by ICE. They are nearly always successful. As “emergency” filings, judges order release based just on the word of the detainee’s lawyer. And as we recently found out, there are no longer any lawyers on the other side representing ICE, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the federal government, and the people.
It appears that the last lawyer still working these cases on behalf of the DOJ, named Julie Le, underwent an epic meltdown in open court earlier this week.
You would think that having no opposition would be good news for detainees seeking release. Wrong again. From CNN,
Trump admin attorney leaves Minnesota after telling judge her job ‘sucks’ amid crush of immigration cases
Ms. Le had been on loan from ICE to help DOJ with the crush of habeas cases in Minnesota. She has returned to her previous post.
CNN quotes Le,
And, yes, procedure in place right now sucks. I’m trying to fix it. I am here with you, your honor. What do you want me to do? The system sucks. This job sucks. And I am trying every breath that I have so that I can get you what you need.
There you have it, with 700 cases to process, Ms. Le’s job was no longer to represent the people, to undertake an independent review of the merits of each case. She was spending 24 hours a day expediting the release of detainees through ICE. As an officer of the court, her job became working for the plaintiffs, not in opposition to them. With Ms. Le gone, there is no one left to expedite the release of detainees. With Ms. Le gone, there is no one left to even receive the orders for release.
And for her troubles, she was threatened daily with contempt of court and imprisonment, for not working fast enough to gain the release of unvetted aliens.
The “justice” system simply doesn’t work the way the law school textbooks say it should. These habeas cases are conducted in complete secrecy, with no adversarial system in place.
Everyone cries about the “rights” of the illegal aliens, who refuse to follow our laws, but no one mentions the right of the people to be represented in these kangaroo proceedings.
Perhaps help is on the way? The U.S. Attorney for Minnesota is appealing a habeas case from last year (Case No. 25-cv-3741) to the 8th circuit court of appeals (Case No. 25-3248), An affidavit filed by U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen on January 30 in the appeal case confirms everything I have written on the subject. Habeas cases have diverted resources away from criminal prosecutions. Judges, too, are overwhelmed by these “emergency” filings.
Scott Johnson of Power Line posts this DOJ filing here.
Minnesota Men Update
A (very) thin ray of hope remains with the Minnesota Man cases. Here, the DOJ takes the offensive side, charging illegal aliens with a criminal felony count of illegal immigration.
Demetrio Simon Martinez became the latest Minnesota Man charged. He joins around 120 others charged since Pres. Trump began his second term (that’s ten per month). Martinez has recorded two previous deportations.
Martinez, age 32, popped up on the ICE radar after a December 2, 2025, incident in Martin County (Fairmont) where he stabbed his roommate, twice, with a knife.
On February 2, Martinez pled guilty in state court to a felony count of assault with a dangerous weapon. His 21-month prison sentence was stayed. For the record, that’s a downward departure, according to sentencing guidelines. A $660 court fine remains unpaid.
Today, in federal court, Minnesota Man Arcadio Carrera-Flores is expected to enter a guilty plea in his case.
Carrera had earned Minnesota Man of the Day honors back on November 22 for his gun/fake ID/illegal immigration case.
Adios!