Federal Courts Flooded with Challenges to Immigration Detention

Surge in habeas corpus petitions filed by immigrants detained by ICE in West Texas

Feb. 1, 2026 at 1:31pm

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Since the Trump administration began its mass deportation efforts in early 2025, more than 1,300 immigrants detained by ICE have filed legal motions known as habeas corpus petitions in the federal court system's Western District of Texas, an area stretching from El Paso to Austin that is home to numerous ICE detention facilities. The district received 759 federal habeas corpus petitions in 2025, more than any previous year, and that record was broken in the first month of 2026.

Why it matters

The surge in habeas corpus petitions highlights growing concerns about the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration and the treatment of detainees, with many cases showing that people were held despite their lawful status in the United States. The filings have overwhelmed federal judges, prosecutors and detainee attorneys, raising questions about the ability of the justice system to handle the volume of cases.

The details

Many of the immigration detainees filing habeas corpus petitions in El Paso and elsewhere in the Western District of Texas have succeeded in being granted bond hearings or their outright release, although the exact numbers are difficult to determine. The vast majority of the petitions allege that an immigrant is being held illegally, with some cases showing people were held despite their lawful status. The filings have increased at an unprecedented rate in recent weeks, including in El Paso, as the Trump administration has declared that undocumented immigrants apprehended in the country's interior are not eligible for bond while in detention, a reversal of decades of legal precedent.

  • In 2025, the Western District of Texas received 759 federal habeas corpus petitions, more than any previous year.
  • In January 2026, federal habeas filings in El Paso came in at a pace that, if continued, would yield more than 2,800 such filings this year.

The players

Heidy

An 18-year-old immigrant from Ecuador who was stopped by immigration agents in Minnesota while driving to community college classes and detained at the Camp East Montana ICE facility in El Paso.

Kathleen Cardone

A U.S. District Judge in the Western District of Texas who has ordered the government to show cause why Heidy shouldn't be freed and has generally given the government a short window to respond to show cause orders in habeas corpus petitions.

Leon Schydlower

The newest federal judge on the El Paso bench, who takes a notably different approach from his colleagues in handling habeas cases by giving the government far more time to respond to show cause orders, resulting in much slower decisions on petitions.

Brendan McBride

A Virginia-based attorney who has handled a number of high-profile immigration cases, including representing Heidy and other detainees who were moved from Minnesota to the Camp East Montana ICE facility in El Paso.

Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg

A leading expert in immigration law who has said the surge in habeas corpus petitions is the result of a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that barred the use of class-action lawsuits in immigration detention cases.

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What’s next

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans will hear oral arguments on the issue of who is eligible for an immigration detention bond on Tuesday. The determination of who is eligible for an immigration detention bond could eventually be made by the Supreme Court, but likely not before next year.

The takeaway

The surge in habeas corpus petitions filed by immigrants detained by ICE in West Texas highlights the overwhelming impact of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, with federal courts struggling to keep up with the volume of cases and concerns raised about the treatment of detainees and the ability of the justice system to provide timely relief.