“Why doesn’t the U.S. Dept. of Justice (DOJ) appeal these horrible judicial orders freeing illegal aliens?” Of course they do appeal them, but the lag time is measured in months, if not years.
I’ve been tracking the habeas corpus phenomenon in Minnesota for quite a while. These petitions all seek the release of one or more illegal aliens being held in ICE custody while awaiting deportation. The petitions succeed a majority of the time, despite the clear letter of the law, which reads, “shall be detained.”
In Minnesota, more than 1,400 such petitions have been filed since the beginning of 2026. In late March, the U.S. 8th Circuit court of appeals upheld the “shall be detained” language and overturned a ruling by a district court judge freeing an illegal alien named Joaquin Avila.
The original habeas petition in the Avila case was filed back in September 2025 and the district judge (John Tunheim) ordered Avila released in October and the DOJ appealed in November. The appeals court issued their decision on March 25, 2026. That’s lightning fast, as these things go.
Here are the habeas appeals I’ve found from the district of Minnesota to the 8th circuit since Avila was filed in November 2025,
Not a single case has reached a conclusion on the merits. Nearly all the habeas appeals have been filed by the DOJ. Four appeals have been dismissed (abandoned) for reasons unexplained in the record. Eight appeals remain pending. Of those eight, three are appeals of district orders issued since the Avila decision.
The rare non-DOJ appeal is the exception that proves the rule. A Nigerian alien appealed the surprise denial of her habeas petition by district judge Jeffrey Bryan (Case No. 25-4770). Although Bryan denied the petition for her release, he separately ordered that the government was forbidden from deporting her, keeping her in custody and in limbo for months.
The most recent appeal filed (July) by the DOJ is from an order issued in April. In the world of the appeals court, district court actions from May, June, July, and into August, have not yet occurred. Only a couple of the oldest outstanding appeals have even completed the briefing cycle.
Justice delayed.