'Huge news!' Expert cheers as judge shuts down Trump's scheme to arrest thousands

[cbabe]

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-court-2675056642/

'Huge news!' Expert cheers as judge shuts down Trump's scheme to arrest thousands

Matthew Chapman
January 28, 2026 7:03PM ET

President Donald Trump's mass immigrant arrest scheme suffered a huge setback on Wednesday, as a federal judge in Minnesota ordered a halt to any arrest and detention of lawful refugees not accused of committing crimes.

Senior U.S. District Judge John Tunheim ordered that the moves to arrest Minnesota's 5,600 refugees, transport them to other states, and interrogate them in detention cannot continue — and that anyone who was shipped out to other states in this manner must be returned to Minnesota.

It is ... essential to emphasize that the refugees impacted by this Order are carefully and thoroughly vetted individuals who have been invited into the United States because of persecution in the countries from which they have come," wrote Tunheim, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton. "They are not committing crimes on our streets, nor did they illegally cross the border. Refugees have a legal right to be in the United States, a right to work, a right to live peacefully — and importantly, a right not to be subjected to the terror of being arrested and detained without warrants or cause in their homes or on their way to religious services or to buy groceries."

… more …

(We’ll see.)

[sheshe2]

1. Good decision, Senior U.S. District Judge John Tunheim.

Not sure this admin will follow through; however, he has more balls than the Suckpreme Court will ever have.

[KS Toronado]

13. "Suckpreme Court" nails it

[sheshe2]

14. Thank you!

[malaise]

2. Rec

Kick
Important

[Ocelot II]

3. Link to the order:

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.230526/gov.uscourts.mnd.230526.41.0.pdf

"It is also essential to emphasize that the refugees impacted by this Order are carefully and thoroughly vetted individuals who have been invited into the United States because of persecution in the countries from which they have come. They are not committing crimes on our streets, nor did they illegally cross the border. Refugees have a legal right to be in the United States, a right to work, a right to live peacefully—and importantly, a right not to be subjected to the terror of being arrested and detained without warrants or cause in their homes or on their way to religious services or to buy groceries. At its best, America serves as a haven of individual liberties in a world too often full of tyranny and cruelty. We abandon that ideal when we subject our neighbors to fear and chaos. The Court expects that this Order will be complied with in all respects."

[malaise]

12. Thanks

Rec

[brakester]

16. Finally!

ICE has been moving fast and breaking things. Tragically, those "things" are good people who our country, in better times, have saved from inhumane treatment in countries ravaged by imperialistic and exploitative policies of our government.
My heart has been breaking over the racist actions of officials who only want white European descendants in this great country.

[progressoid]

4. Ok.

I wish I could be optimistic about this.

They rarely seem to care about a judge's order or even the law for that matter.

[AllaN01Bear]

5. ding . this .

[Lonestarblue]

6. The order will be appealed to the Supreme Court, the same one that saud racial profiling by ICE was okay.

The question is whether they will uphold our asylum laws or give Trump another pass. I doubt they have any empathy whatsoever because they favor rich white men.

[popsdenver]

9. With the lack of transparency by Republicans

I can only imagine that we honestly have NO idea how many they have arrested, killed..... OR where they even are located at this point.......

Same thing with the Border Patrol Gestapo down on the Mexican/U.S. border......out of sight, out of mind........
With no civilian observers down there, I can only imagine what they could do, and get away with...Maybe even promoted.....

[FakeNoose]

7. Senior U.S. District Judge John Tunheim is an American hero!

Thank you Judge Tunheim!

[Martin68]

8. A great step in the right direction. The tide is turning.

[LiberalLovinLug]

10. Exactly

Even if they ignore this ruling, which I fully expect them to do, it's one more chink in the armor

[littlemissmartypants]

11. Thank you, Judge John Tunheim.

Now let's hope we see some action by the regime in this direction.

Judge John Tunheim in his chambers in the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. (Glen Stubbe, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Tunheim was born in Thief River Falls, Minnesota in 1953. He attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1975.[2] He obtained his legal education from the University of Minnesota Law School and received his Juris Doctor in 1980. Tunheim then became a law clerk for Judge Earl R. Larson of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota from 1980 to 1981, and was in private practice in St. Paul, Minnesota from 1981 to 1984. He was an attorney in the Office of the State Attorney General of Minnesota from 1984 to 1995, serving as an assistant state attorney general and the manager of the Public Affairs Litigation Division from 1984 to 1985, as Minnesota state solicitor general from 1985 to 1986, and as chief deputy state attorney general from 1986 to 1995. He was an adjunct professor in the University of Minnesota Law School in 1994. Tunheim also served as chairman of the Assassination Records Review Board, which oversaw the collection of records relating to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, from 1994 to 1995.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Tunheim

[liberalla]

15. Kick! Thank you Judge Tunheim!

[North Coast Lawyer]

17. This is what an independent judicary looks like!