Habeas 800

Habeas corpus cases have soared past the 800 mark in Minnesota for 2026, so far, even as higher courts look to limit the practice.

As of this afteroon, some 819 habeas cases have been filed in federal court, each seeking the release of one or more illegal aliens held in ICE detention. Down in Texas, the 5th circuit court of appeals (TX-LA-MS) has ended the phenomenon in that area, noting that Immigration Courts have sole jurisdiction and the plain language of the statute reads, “shall be detained.”

Andrew Arthur of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) digs deep into the legal history here (and mentions us by name), under the headline,

Fifth Circuit Greenlights Mandatory Detention for All Illegal Entrants:
Ignore the thousands of habeas claims — this issue is bound for SCOTUS

As Arthur notes, habeas cases have been extraordinarily successful, up until now,

Nearly all of those habeas applications have been successful, with one law firm claiming “roughly” 97 percent of all alien applicants had managed to secure release from district court judges in the more than 8,000 cases that had been filed since the new policy took effect.

Until a new Supreme Court ruling comes along, it’s business as usual back in Minnesota. In fact, local federal judges are providing concierge service to plaintiffs in habeas cases.

In one of the 800+ habeas cases I’ve been following, an El Salvadoran detainee was released from custody, but his personal effects (drivers license, passport, etc.) have gone missing. The judge in the case held a video hearing this afternoon to expedite the return of the missing items, as the plaintiff’s lawyer has filed a contempt motion seeking prison term(s) for the government official(s) involved in the misplacement.

In the cases of Minnesota Men I’ve been following, those habeas success percentages cited above are reversed. I’ve been tracking the cases of around 125 illegal aliens prosecuted in federal court in Minnesota in the past year on criminal charges of illegal immigration. Although it’s a much more labor-intensive process, it nearly always succeeds with the deportation and/or imprisonment of the illegal alien.

Two more Minnesota Men appeared in court yesterday, each charged with illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien. First up, was Faustino Baron-Beltran, who boasts of two previous deportations. Baron is due back in court on April 8.

Next up was Angel Gonzalo Chimbo Viracucha,

Chimbo is due back on court on Thursday for a hearing on his continued detention.