Seattle Feds Drop Defense in Wave of Immigration Detention Cases

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington announced on Monday that it will stop defending the government in a large number of immigration detention cases. Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Floyd told U.S. District Judge David Estudillo that his office lacks the staff to handle every petition. Consequently, the agency will let judges rule on these matters without government opposition.

Floyd’s letter identifies the volume of habeas corpus petitions as the primary driver of the change. These cases require protracted litigation, including numerous hearings, briefings, and motions. Floyd stated that this workload consumes substantial prosecutorial resources. He noted that the backlog has severely impacted the government’s ability to respond to immigration petitions. This strain has also prevented prosecutors from managing other unrelated civil litigation.

The office will decline to defend many of these cases, though Floyd did not provide a specific count. The decision follows a trend where judges have frequently ruled against the administration in cases filed by tens of thousands of detainees. These individuals argue that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is holding them illegally. Administration officials have expressed frustration over these rulings, while judges and advocates contend that ICE has trampled on individual rights during the Trump administration’s hardline immigration push.

The legal pressure is mounting nationally. U.S. border czar Tom Homan told Fox News last week that courts are dealing with approximately 85,000 immigration habeas cases. This figure reflects the scale of the government’s sweeping crackdown. The backlog in Washington mirrors this national trend, forcing local prosecutors to triage their workload.

Floyd brings a judicial background to the role. He is a former judge who, along with three other Washington judges, advocated for prohibiting immigration courts from granting bond to detainees. That question is now before the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices will consider whether immigrants living in the U.S. have a right to a hearing to determine if they should remain detained while challenging their possible deportation.

Lower courts have split on this issue. Most appeals courts have found that detaining immigrants, including those living in the U.S. illegally, without a bond hearing violates federal law. These decisions conflict with rulings from the 5th and 8th circuits. Those circuits held that immigrants accused of illegally entering and remaining in the U.S. must be detained while their deportation cases are pending.