Judge Criticizes Stephen Miller as "Ignorant, Incompetent, or Both"

On Wednesday, a federal judge strongly criticized the Trump administrations justification for widespread, warrantless immigration arrests. In an extensive 88-page decision, U.S. Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the administration had unlawfully lowered the requirements for detaining individuals under immigration law, effectively implementing a policy of arrest first, question later during the federal oversight of Washington, D.C.

Judge Howell detailed how the Department of Homeland Security and senior Trump officials adopted a reasonable suspicion standard for arrests, bypassing the legal necessity to establish probable cause. The ruling highlighted numerous public statements suggesting that officials believed showing probable cause was unnecessary.

The judge specifically criticized the governments lawyers, who argued that these statements were made by non-attorneys unfamiliar with legal terminology. Howell wrote, This is a remarkable assertion. On its face, the governments defense appears to be that the individuals behind these statements are ignorant or incompetent, or both.

Among the cited examples, Chief Border Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino publicly stated, We need reasonable suspicion to make an immigration arrest, clarifying that probable cause or a warrant was not required. He explained that the suspicion needed to be well grounded within the United States immigration law.

White House deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller was also mentioned in the decision. Howell referenced Miller instructing immigration officers to make arrests at places like Home Depot and 7-Eleven, and reportedly insisting that ICE should not focus solely on undocumented immigrants with criminal records. One official recalled Miller saying, Stephen Miller wants everybody arrested. Why arent you at Home Depot? Why arent you at 7-Eleven?

As a result, Judge Howell prohibited the government from conducting immigration arrests without first establishing probable cause that the individual was in the U.S. illegally and posed a flight risk.

Author: Chloe Ramirez