法院已裁定4400余次移民与海关执法局（ICE）非法拘留人员，但此类情况仍未停止。
作者：内特·雷蒙德、克里斯蒂娜·库克和布拉德·希思
2026年2月14日 美国东部时间上午10:07 更新于1小时前
（图片说明）
- [1/7] 2026年1月28日，美国德克萨斯州迪利市迪利移民处理中心外，德克萨斯州州警在南德克萨斯家庭居住中心的抗议活动中列队。图中被美国移民与海关执法局（ICE）特工在明尼苏达州拘留的阿德里安·科内霍（Adrian Conejo）及其子利亚姆·科内霍·拉莫斯（Liam Conejo Ramos）目前被关押于此。路透社/安特哈尼克·塔维蒂安/档案照片
摘要
- 被拘留移民已提起逾2万起诉讼要求获释
- 特朗普政府无视法院裁决继续拘留
- 诉讼规模庞大威胁司法系统运转
- 约700名司法部律师被部署处理移民案件
华盛顿，2月14日（路透社） – 路透社对法院记录的审查发现，自去年10月以来，全美数百名法官已做出超过4400次裁决，认定唐纳德·特朗普总统政府非法拘留移民。
这些裁决构成了对特朗普移民镇压政策的全面法律谴责。然而，尽管法院裁定该政策违法，政府仍继续无限期监禁移民。
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令人震惊的是，政府坚持要求本法院重新定义或完全无视现行明确法律条文。
——美国西弗吉尼亚州联邦地区法官托马斯·约翰斯顿（小布什任命）上周在下令释放一名委内瑞拉被拘留者时写道。
大多数裁决围绕特朗普政府背离近30年联邦法律解释展开：即允许已在美国境内的移民在移民法庭听证期间缴纳保释金后获释。
白宫发言人阿比盖尔·杰克逊表示，政府正”依法履行特朗普总统大规模驱逐移民的 mandate（授权）”。
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被拘留移民人数激增
在特朗普任内，ICE拘留中心人数本月已达约6.8万人，较其上任时增长约75%。
新奥尔良一家保守派上诉法院上周支持特朗普政府扩大移民拘留的举措。美国上诉法院法官伊迪丝·琼斯（Edith Jones）在裁决中称：”此前政府未充分利用法律拘留人员，并不意味着他们缺乏扩大拘留的权力。”该裁决推翻了释放两名墨西哥男子的判决，但其律师表示两人仍被关押。
其他上诉法院将在未来几周处理相关问题。
国土安全部发言人特里西亚·麦克劳克林称，诉讼数量增加”不足为奇”，”尤其是在许多‘活动家法官’试图阻挠特朗普总统实现美国民众大规模驱逐的 mandate（授权）之后”。
该部门未回应有关具体案例和数据的问题。
路透社对法院卷宗的审查显示，自特朗普上任以来，移民拘留者因几乎无其他自由途径，已提起逾20200起联邦诉讼要求获释，凸显了特朗普政策转变的广泛影响。
在至少4421起案件中，自去年10月起，超过400名联邦法官裁定，美国移民与海关执法局在开展大规模驱逐行动时非法关押人员。
（图表） 显示每月移民拘留人身保护令申请数量的图表
部分案件因被拘留者获释、转移至其他司法管辖区或驳回而无法统计，路透社无法确定有多少案件被转移或重新提交。
法律纠纷升级
18岁的委内瑞拉留学生约瑟夫·托马斯（Joseph Thomas）去年12月底在威斯康星州交通拦截中被捕，当时他正坐在父亲伊莱亚斯·托马斯（Elias Thomas）的沃尔玛送货车上。
他们是2023年8月进入美国的寻求庇护者，均获工作许可。其律师卡里·佩尔蒂埃（Carrie Peltier）表示，他们因”‘肤色’问题被拦下”。
不到一个月，法官下令释放父子二人。
小布什任命的联邦首席地区法官帕特里克·施尔茨（Patrick Schiltz）裁定约瑟夫被非法拘留，下令立即释放。他在裁决中指出，约瑟夫不应被强制拘留，且”没有证据表明ICE在拘留时持有逮捕令”。
特朗普任命的联邦地区法官埃里克·托斯特鲁德（Eric Tostrud）裁定伊莱亚斯有资格参加保释听证会。
“这引发了本地区法院多次审议但拒绝的法律解释问题，这里也将予以拒绝。”托斯特鲁德在裁决中写道。
约瑟夫目前在线上课，因害怕返校而无法正常学习。
诉讼浪潮
人身保护令（habeas corpus，拉丁语意为”你应当拥有人身自由”）于1300年代在英国法院出现，并被载入美国宪法，为被非法拘留者提供法律救济途径。
路透社通过法律研究工具Westlaw（汤森路透旗下）收集了二十余年来所有公开的联邦法院案件卷宗，统计了人身保护令诉讼数量。
这些记录结合其他法院文件，提供了迄今为止美国司法系统中诉讼规模及政府受挫情况的最全面视角。
1月数天内，律师为以下人员提交人身保护令申请：
- 5岁厄瓜多尔男孩利亚姆·科内霍（Liam Conejo），在明尼苏达州家中车道被拘留
- 持有效临时人道主义身份的乌克兰男子，在前往担任电缆技术员工作途中被拘留
- 与美国公民结婚、有3岁美国公民自闭症子女的萨尔瓦多男子
- 持难民身份的厄立特里亚医院工作人员，因允许特工进入其公寓楼被捕
- 送女儿上学后被逮捕的委内瑞拉男子
所有被拘留者均无犯罪记录。
司法资源被挤占
诉讼激增迫使美国司法部将原本处理刑事案件的律师调派至人身保护令案件。
路透社通过法院卷宗发现，超过700名司法部律师代表政府处理移民案件，其中5名律师各自出现在1000多起人身保护令案件中。
法律程序的堵塞导致法官发现，政府在法院下令释放后仍非法关押被拘留者。
上个月明尼苏达州法院命令显示，施尔茨法官指出政府在76起案件中违反了96项法院命令。当地美国检察官丹尼尔·罗森（Daniel Rosen）在文件中称，这些案件给政府律师造成了”巨大负担”。
同样，拜登任命的纽约联邦地区法官努斯拉特·乔杜里（Nusrat Choudhury）本月指出，ICE违反两项”明确无误的命令”，将一名男子飞往新墨西哥州拘留，却谎称其在新泽西州并可出庭。
司法部发言人娜塔莉·巴尔达萨雷（Natalie Baldassarre）表示，政府”遵守法院命令并充分执行联邦移民法”。
“如果‘流氓法官’在案件审理中遵守法律并尊重政府妥善准备案件的义务，就不会出现‘积压’的人身保护令案件或国土安全部执行命令的问题。”
法律障碍
在纽约，维权人士在移民法庭外等待，帮助被拘留者联系律师以提交当日人身保护令申请，阻止其被快速转移至其他州拘留中心。
1月16日，美国联邦地区法官J.保罗·奥肯（J. Paul Oetken）就一名在法庭听证期间被拘留的厄瓜多尔男子发布紧急禁令，禁止政府将其转移出纽约。1月30日，奥巴马任命的联邦地区法官安德鲁·卡特（Andrew Carter）下令立即释放该男子。
然而，许多移民仍无法获得救济。部分人不知晓可申请人身保护令，另一些人找不到负担得起的律师。
朱迪·拉（Judy Rall）是一名美国公民，其丈夫为委内瑞拉被拘留者，已在德克萨斯州蓝带拘留中心被关押近一年。她称自己被索要5000美元提交人身保护令申请，无力承担。尽管他们基于婚姻关系的移民案件尚未裁决，但政府拒绝在审理期间释放他。她丈夫无犯罪记录，但政府无证据却指控其与委内瑞拉”特伦德阿拉瓜”（Tren de Aragua）帮派有关联。
本月，她的律师主动提出免费代理其人身保护令案件。
“我们的家被烧毁，我告诉他们需要他回来帮忙。我认为这是（免费代理）的原因。”
报道： 内特·雷蒙德（波士顿）、克里斯蒂娜·库克（旧金山）、布拉德·希思（华盛顿特区）；布拉德·布鲁克斯（明尼阿波利斯）补充报道；编辑：克雷格·蒂姆伯格、苏珊娜·戈德堡
我们的标准： 路透社信托原则（链接）
Courts have ruled 4,400 times that ICE jailed people illegally. It hasn’t stopped.
By Nate Raymond, Kristina Cooke and Brad Heath
February 14, 2026 10:07 AM UTC Updated 1 hour ago
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Item 1 of 7 Texas State Troopers line up during a protest at the South Texas Family Residential Center, where Adrian Conejo and his son Liam Conejo Ramos, who were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota, are currently being held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, in Dilley, Texas, U.S., January 28, 2026. REUTERS/Antranik Tavitian/File Photo
[1/7]Texas State Troopers line up during a protest at the South Texas Family Residential Center, where Adrian Conejo and his son Liam Conejo Ramos, who were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota, are currently being held at the Dilley Immigration Processing… Read more
- Detained immigrants have filed more than 20,000 lawsuits seeking their release
- Trump administration continues detentions despite court rulings
- Sheer scale of the lawsuits threatens to clog the judicial system
- About 700 Justice Department attorneys deployed to represent the government in immigration cases
WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Hundreds of judges around the country have ruled more than 4,400 times since October that President Donald Trump’s administration is detaining immigrants unlawfully, a Reuters review of court records found.
The decisions amount to a sweeping legal rebuke of Trump’s immigration crackdown. Yet the administration has continued jailing people indefinitely even after courts ruled the policy was illegal.
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“It is appalling that the Government insists that this Court should redefine or completely disregard the current law as it is clearly written,” U.S. District Judge Thomas Johnston of West Virginia, an appointee of President George W. Bush, wrote last week, ordering the release of a Venezuelan detainee in the state.
Most of the rulings center on the Trump administration’s departure from a nearly three-decade-old interpretation of federal law that immigrants already living in the United States could be released on bond while they pursue their cases in immigration court.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the administration is “working to lawfully deliver on President Trump’s mandate to enforce federal immigration law.”
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SOARING NUMBER OF IMMIGRANT DETAINEES
Under Trump, the number of people in ICE detention reached about 68,000 this month, up about 75% from when Trump took office last year.
A conservative appeals court in New Orleans last week gave the Trump administration a victory in its drive to lock up more immigrants. Just because prior administrations did not fully utilize the law to detain people “does not mean they lacked the authority to do more,” U.S. Circuit Judge Edith Jones wrote in a decision reversing rulings that led to the release of two Mexican men. Both remain free, their lawyer said.
Other appeals courts are set to take up the issue in the coming weeks.
Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, said the increase in lawsuits came as “no surprise” – “especially after many activist judges have attempted to thwart President Trump from fulfilling the American people’s mandate for mass deportations.”
The department did not respond to more specific questions about the cases and data findings in this story.
With few other legal paths to freedom, immigrant detainees have filed more than 20,200 federal lawsuits demanding their release since Trump took office, a Reuters review of court dockets found, underscoring the sweeping impact of Trump’s policy change.
In at least 4,421 cases, more than 400 federal judges ruled since the beginning of October that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is holding people illegally as it carries out its mass-deportation campaign, Reuters found.
A chart showing the number of habeas challenges to immigration detention by month
Other cases are pending, have been dismissed because the detainee was released, or were transferred to another judicial district, which would force immigrants to file a new case. Reuters was unable to determine how many cases were moved or re-filed.
Joseph Thomas, an 18-year-old high school student from Venezuela, was arrested during a traffic stop in Wisconsin in late December, while riding with his father, Elias Thomas, on his Walmart delivery route.
The men are asylum seekers who entered the United States in August 2023. Both are authorized to work, their lawyer, Carrie Peltier, said. Peltier said they were stopped for “driving while brown.”
Within a month, judges ordered the release of father and son.
Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz – also a Bush appointee – ruled that Joseph had been detained illegally and ordered his immediate release. In his ruling, he said Joseph was not subject to mandatory detention, and called out a “lack of any evidence that ICE had a warrant when it detained Joseph while he was a passenger in his father’s car.”
U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud, a Trump appointee, ruled that Joseph’s father Elias was eligible for a bond hearing.
“This raises an issue of statutory interpretation that courts in this District have repeatedly considered and rejected, and it will be rejected here as well,” Tostrud wrote in his order.
Joseph is now taking classes online, afraid to return to school.
LANDSLIDE OF LAWSUITS
Habeas corpus – Latin for “you shall have the body” – emerged in the English courts in the 1300s and is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. It provides a legal recourse for people the government has detained unlawfully.
Reuters counted habeas lawsuits by gathering the dockets of every publicly filed federal court case over more than two decades from Westlaw, a legal research tool that is a division of Thomson Reuters.
The records, combined with other court filings, offer the most comprehensive view to date of the scale of lawsuits moving through the U.S. justice system and of the defeats for the administration.
Within the span of a few days in January, lawyers filed habeas petitions for Liam Conejo, a five-year-old Ecuadorean boy detained in the driveway of his Minnesota home; a Ukrainian man with a valid temporary humanitarian status who was detained on his way to work as a cable technician; a Salvadoran man married to a U.S. citizen and father of a 3-year-old autistic child who is also a U.S. citizen; an Eritrean hospital worker with refugee status who was arrested after letting agents into his apartment complex and a Venezuelan man who was arrested after dropping off his daughter at school.
None had criminal records.
DIVERTED LAWYERS, VIOLATED ORDERS
The rush of lawsuits is forcing the U.S. Justice Department offices to divert attorneys who would normally prosecute criminal cases to respond to habeas cases.
Using court dockets, Reuters found more than 700 Justice Department attorneys representing the government in immigration cases. Five of the attorneys each appeared on the dockets of more than 1,000 habeas cases.
Partly as a result of that legal logjam, judges have found that the government has left people locked up even after judges ordered their release.
In a court order, opens new tab issued last month in Minnesota, Schiltz said the government had violated 96 orders in 76 cases. The U.S. Attorney there, Daniel Rosen, said in a filing, opens new tab two days later that the cases had created an “enormous burden” for government attorneys.
Similarly, U.S. District Judge Nusrat Choudhury, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden in New York, wrote this month that ICE violated two “clear and unambiguous orders” by flying a man to New Mexico for detention while falsely claiming he was in New Jersey and could be brought to a court hearing.
A Justice Department spokesperson, Natalie Baldassarre, said the administration “is complying with court orders and fully enforcing federal immigration law.”
“If rogue judges followed the law in adjudicating cases and respected the government’s obligation to properly prepare cases, there wouldn’t be an ‘overwhelming’ habeas caseload or concern over DHS following orders,” she said.
LEGAL HURDLES
In New York, advocates have waited outside immigration court to connect detained immigrants with lawyers who can file same-day habeas claims – blocking their rapid transfer to a detention center in another state.
On January 16, U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken issued an emergency ruling for an Ecuadorean man who was detained at his court hearing, barring the government from moving him out of New York. On January 30, U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter, who like Oetken was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, ordered his immediate release.
Still, many immigrants aren’t able to seek that relief. Some aren’t aware that they can file a habeas case. Others can’t find affordable lawyers.
Judy Rall, the U.S. citizen wife of a Venezuelan detainee who has spent almost a year at the Bluebonnet detention center in Texas, said she was quoted upwards of $5,000 to file a habeas petition, which she could not afford. She and her husband have a pending immigration case based on their marriage, but the government has declined to release him while the case is being adjudicated. He has no criminal record, but the government has alleged, without providing evidence, that he has links to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
This month, her lawyer offered to take on the habeas case for free.
“Our home burnt down, and I had told them I needed him to come help,” she said. “I assume that is the reason.”
Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston, Kristina Cooke in San Francisco and Brad Heath in Washington, D.C.; additional reporting by Brad Brooks in Minneapolis; Editing by Craig Timberg and Suzanne Goldenberg
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab