Original Date Announced

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has repeatedly slow-walked and failed to comply with federal court orders. ICE's noncompliance has occurred across a variety of areas, including refusing to comply with orders granting writs of habeas corpus to individuals detained by ICE, refusing to return noncitizens who it wrongfully deported to the United States, and transferring detained individuals to more favorable federal districts despite judges having issued no-transfer orders. Federal courts have increasingly raised the prospect of finding agency officials in criminal contempt if they continue to fail to comply.

This entry tracks the Trump administration's systematic noncompliance with court orders. For additional updates on patterns of noncompliance within individual policy areas, please see the entries linked herein.

[Trump 2.0 ID #2257]

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2026.02.12 Memorandum Opinion and Order - J.G.G. v. Trump

Judge James E. Boasberg granted provisional certification of a class consisting of "[a]ll noncitizens in U.S. custody who are subject to the March 15, 2025, Presidential Proclamation entitled 'Invocation of the Alien Enemies Act Regarding the Invasion of The United States by Tren De Aragua' and its implementation" and enjoined the government from "removing members of such class (not otherwise subject to removal) pursuant to the Proclamation for 14 days or until further Order of the Court." During the court hearing, Judge Boasberg also orally directed the Defendants to "immediately" turn around any planes carrying out people removed under the AEA so that they can be returned to the U.S. and, if any such planes already had landed but passengers had not yet disembarked, to keep them on the plane and bring them back. J.G.G v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-00766 (D.D.C.). On April 16, 2025, Judge Boasberg determined that the Government's actions on March 15th "demonstrate a willful disregard" for the court's temporary restraining order and are "sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt." If the government does not purge their contempt, the Court will identify the individuals whose “specific act or omission” caused the noncompliance and appoint a private prosecutor if the government will not prosecute. J.G.G v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-00766 (D.D.C.).

Link to case here. Our litigation entries generally report only the initial complaint and any major substantive filings or decisions. For additional information, CourtListener provides access to PACER and all available pleadings. Other sites that track litigation in more detail or organize cases by topic include Civil Rights Clearinghouse, Justice Action Center, National Immigration Litigation Alliance, and Just Security. For subsequent developments regarding the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act and Judge Boasberg's contempt proceeding, see this entry.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.04.11 - Order Finding Failure to Comply - Abrego Garcia v. Noem

The Trump administration has repeatedly obstructed, and in several instances refused to comply, with court orders requiring the administration to facilitate the return of individuals that courts have held were wrongfully deported. In the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Supreme Court rule in April 2025 that a lower court properly ordered the administration to "facilitate" his release from custody in El Salvador and return to the United States. The federal government initially refused to do so, and subsequently returned him to the United States for the purposes of indicting him on charges of alleged human smuggling. In several cases since then, the administration has either outright refused court orders to facilitate the return of individuals wrongfully deported or pointed to often self-imposed obstacles to delay implementation of such court orders, in several instances rendering the relief moot.

Link to case here. See litigation note above.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.07.08 ICE - Interim Guidance Regarding Detention Authority for Applicants for Admission

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and immigration judges under the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) have repeatedly defied federal district courts' holdings that noncitizens detained within the interior of the United States are properly detained under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a), which provides for an individualized determination of whether detention is required at a bond hearing, rather than 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2). District courts across the country have routinely granted habeas petitions in such cases, finding that continued detention without a bond hearing violates noncitizens' right to due process under the Fifth Amendment, but ICE has slow-walked released and immigration judges have continued to deny bond hearings, even when ordered to in individual cases by district courts. Several federal district courts have threatened to hold both federal immigration officials, as well as state officials who assist in unlawfully detaining such individuals.

For additional updates on the Trump administration's policy of denying bond hearings to detained noncitizens, see this entry.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.09.01 Minute Order - L.G.M.L. v. Noem

ICE and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have repeatedly failed to comply with court orders in immigration habeas cases, with the overwhelming majority of such noncompliance coming in the form of failing to file documents on time with the court. Some such failures have included failures to file routine documents based on the high volume of habeas petitions, particularly in federal districts that the administration has targeted for immigration enforcement. the government has also failed to file emergency status reports in cases where the court has ordered ICE not to remove classes of individuals from the country, limiting courts' ability to enforce temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions.

For updates regarding noncompliance with habeas orders, see this entry.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

Reported 2026.01.28: ICE illegally detaining, moving Minnesota children to Texas faster than courts can respond - MPR News

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has adopted a practice of rapidly moving individuals in detention out of judicial districts in which they were initially detained, transferring them largely to detention centers in Texas and Louisiana, where appeals will be heard by the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. This practice has increased in scale since Operation Metro Surge began in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and judges in several districts have imposed orders preventing the mass rapid transfer of detainees out of state before they can secure legal representation. However, federal courts have found that ICE has repeatedly violate such orders. While some have ordered individual noncitizens returned to their districts, other courts have threatened to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against ICE officials.

For further updates regarding ICE's policy of transferring detainees to more favorable jurisdictions and noncompliance with no-transfer orders, see this entry.