Federal judges in Minnesota reportedly colluded with one another to stymie President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.
The New York Times published a report on Thursday detailing how the judges coordinated to handle a massive surge in immigration enforcement cases as the Trump administration ramped up activity in the state.
The judges shared legal templates to handle the surge in volume and remained on call 24/7. Judge Patrick Shiltz told The New York Times that the vigilance was necessary because of "The cost of me enjoying a movie could be somebody waking up in New Mexico the next day when they shouldn't have."
Even though the White House did not fully adhere to the rapid court orders that were issued, Shiltz said, "My impression was that most, if not all, of the noncompliance was due to incompetence."
From The New York Times:
District court judges work alone, but as the number of cases ramped up, the judges recalled seeking one another’s counsel, meeting regularly and consulting in running email threads. Eventually, some of their clerks made an informal spreadsheet showing whom to consult on particular legal questions. Some judges built templates of legal orders so they could respond quickly to some of the detention issues that were arising again and again.
The judges said they stayed glued to their devices, fearful of missing a petition. Judge Katherine M. Menendez said she responded to one request on her iPad from the coat room of a restaurant. At dinners with friends, Judge Schiltz said he would apologetically explain why he needed to check his phones constantly. “The cost of me enjoying a movie could be somebody waking up in New Mexico the next day when they shouldn’t have,” he recalled.
In a stunning political move, the chief judge of the Minneapolis federal bench disclosed the behind the scenes collaboration between all judges to thwart legal proceedings related to immigration cases this year.
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) September 17, 2026
Patrick Schiltz, who admitted his longtime involvement in a… https://t.co/DbkrOP9nGY
The report also noted that judges in other districts are using their courtrooms to impede the president’s immigration policies.
After Judge Schiltz’s January warning, judges in other districts around the country began using their rulings to sound the same alarm — the administration’s approach to detaining immigrants was jeopardizing the rule of law.
In West Virginia, a judge threatened to hold administration officials in contempt. In New Jersey, a judge ordered the Justice Department to make its own list of cases where it had failed to comply. In Texas, a judge decried the administration’s actions, and what he called “the perfidious lust for unbridled power.”
“If there is one single issue that would unite judges of all persuasions, it is the sanctity of court orders,” said Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, by email. Judge Wilkinson, appointed by President Reagan, is one of several Republican-appointed judges who have criticized the Trump administration in their rulings. “There is a brotherhood of judges on this question, of which Judge Schiltz is an esteemed and valued part.”
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