Lawyer for Maryland federal judges warns "nightmare scenario" if Trump wins immigration lawsuit
Judge Thomas Cullen, a Trump appointee who will soon rule on an unprecedented immigration-related lawsuit against every federal judge in Maryland, expressed skepticism of the administration's arguments at a pivotal hearing in Baltimore on Wednesday.
Cullen was brought in from Virginia to oversee the case because all federal judges in Maryland are defendants.
"I don't have a very good poker face. You probably picked up on the fact that I have some skepticism," Cullen said.
What's the lawsuit about?
At the heart of the case is immigration enforcement and Maryland District Court Judge George Russell III's order that every deportation must be halted for two business days to give migrants time for a hearing and due process.
Elizabeth Hedges, the Department of Justice lawyer representing the Trump administration, told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren she had no comment as she left court.
Hedges argued the government's interests were being harmed by Judge Russell's order.
The lawsuit alleges Maryland's 15 federal judges "have used and abused their equitable powers to interfere with the prerogative of the Executive Branch to an unprecedented degree."
It also claimed "…a sense of frustration and a desire for greater convenience do not give defendants license to flout the law. Nor does their status within the judicial branch."
"Defendants' lawless standing orders are nothing more than a particularly egregious example of judicial overreach interfering with Executive Branch prerogatives, and thus undermining the Democratic process," the Department of Justice alleged.
Due process
One of the judges being sued, Paula Xinis, has repeatedly criticized the Trump administration for wrongly deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia from Maryland to El Salvador.
Last month, she ordered his return to Maryland.
"I'm not here to answer your questions in this case; you're here to answer mine," Xinis told federal prosecutors at a July hearing.
She said they have "destroyed the presumption of regularity. I can't presume anything is regular in this irregular case."
"Nightmare scenario"
Private attorney Paul Clement, who represents the Maryland judges against the Trump lawsuit's claims, has long been an advocate for conservative causes, and in his first term, Trump considered Clement to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, Clement called the Trump administration's lawsuit "a nightmare scenario" and "an extraordinary action that should be dismissed."
It is far from the administration's only recent clash with the judiciary, and followed the firing of several immigration judges by email last month.
Ruling timeline
Judge Cullen said he will make a ruling by Labor Day in this case, but expects it will be challenged.
The Maryland judges have called the Trump administration's lawsuit "disruptive" to the federal court system.