Trump DOJ nearly shut out by judges over cases that 'turn your stomach': expert

President Donald Trump's Department of Justice was nearly shut out by judges after a federal judge in Minnesota said ICE has defied 100 different court orders.

Legal expert Lisa Rubin talked about the ongoing cases with MS NOW anchor Katie Tur, who described Judge Patrick J. Schiltz's statement that "ICE is behaving as if ICE itself is the law."

"It's crazy to me to have that said by the chief judge of the District of Minnesota, particularly given his background," Rubin said. "We have said this many times, but when it comes to the lawlessness of this administration, the folks who are calling that out are not all appointees of Democratic presidents. Many of them have conservative legal movement bona fides. That is absolutely true of this particular judge, Patrick Schiltz, and the order in which he related that Katie is not one where he had to say any of that."

Schiltz's comments pointed to a concern and what might happen with Trump's DOJ.

"The question was just, is Todd Lyons going to come to his courtroom on Friday and testify or not?" Rubin said. "And he said, it's no longer necessary. You have told me that you released the person in question. He was supposed to come and explain why the person hadn't been released, and they said, he's been released. We agree the hearing is off. But then he took the opportunity to say, 'I have spoken with the other judges in my district. We have counted between us nearly 100 instances in which ICE has not followed our orders."

Several civil applications have remained open, Rubin added.

"The state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities have a pending motion for a temporary restraining order against the continued operation of [ICE's] metro surge," she said. "They're also asking if it continues to have this judge, Kate Menendez, rein in some of the tactics that are being used on the ground against people who aren't subject to enforcement, immigration related arrests."

The question that has continued to remain, Rubin explained, was whether the immigrants detained by ICE — the main reason for protests erupting on the ground — have brought cases that say 'your right to detain me is in question."

"You didn't have a warrant, judicial or administrative or I have status in this country. I never should have been picked up in the first place," Rubin said, describing the legal questions emerging in these cases.

Rubin and MS NOW colleague Fallon Gallagher reviewed 61 cases where immigrants were challenging their detentions, which were decided between Jan. 20 and Jan. 27.

"We found that in all but one case, with judges appointed by both Democrats and Republicans, the immigrants won every single time but one. And in that one outstanding case, the person had a criminal history. But in all of the rest, not only did they have no criminal history, they were arrested in circumstances that turn your stomach," Rubin said.

Rubin described the cases and circumstances surrounding some of the detained immigrants fighting for justice.

"A Kenyan woman outside a CVS looking for her seizure medication about to walk in and get it, somebody who was a deferred action for childhood arrivals, a Dreamer who had lawful status to be here, other people who entered as refugees or had pending claims for asylum, had never missed a court date, had filled out all their paperwork, someone who had permission to be here as a victim of violence under the Violence Against Women Act, and it goes on and on and on to a person, to almost a case, with one exception, every time the judges are saying you have no right to detain these people sort of underscores what we're seeing on the streets," Rubin said.