TL;DR: Between December 5, 2025 and February 12, 2026, ICE violated federal court orders 56 times in New Jersey alone. The DOJ admitted this in a court filing after a federal judge demanded an accounting. The violations: 17 illegal transfers of detainees after judges ordered them to stay put, 12 missed bond hearing deadlines, 6 missed filing deadlines, 10 cases of incomplete discovery, 3 late releases, and one wrongful deportation to Peru. The DOJ calls these "inadvertent" mistakes. Judges aren't buying it.
The DOJ Confession
U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz wanted answers. After 547 habeas petitions flooded New Jersey federal courts in two months (immigrants challenging their detention), he noticed a pattern. ICE kept ignoring his orders.
On January 26, Judge Farbiarz ordered ICE not to transfer Baljinder Kumar out of New Jersey while he challenged his detention. Five days later, ICE shipped Kumar to Texas anyway [1].
That wasn't an isolated incident. It was the pattern.
Farbiarz ordered the Justice Department to conduct an internal review. Associate Deputy Attorney General Jordan Fox, who helps lead the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey, filed the results on February 18, 2026 [2].
The count: 56 violations in 69 days.
What ICE Did
Fox's declaration breaks down the violations [1][2][3]:
17 Illegal Transfers
In 17 cases, ICE moved detainees out of New Jersey after judges explicitly ordered them to stay. The whole point of a habeas petition is to get in front of a judge. Transfer someone to Texas or Louisiana, and good luck getting a lawyer to represent them from 1,500 miles away.
12 Missed Bond Hearing Deadlines
Courts set deadlines for bond hearings. ICE missed 12 of them. People sat in detention longer than the court ordered because ICE didn't show up or wasn't ready.
10 Cases of Incomplete Discovery
When courts order the government to hand over evidence, it's not optional. In 10 cases, government attorneys provided incomplete discovery, meaning defense lawyers didn't get the documents they needed to represent their clients.
6 Missed Filing Deadlines
DOJ attorneys missed court-imposed deadlines in 6 cases. Basic lawyering.
3 Late Releases
Courts ordered three detainees released by specific dates. ICE kept them locked up past the deadline.
1 Wrongful Deportation
In December 2025, ICE deported someone to Peru despite a court injunction blocking the removal. Once you're deported, the legal process becomes exponentially harder to navigate [2].
The "Inadvertent" Defense
Fox's filing claims each violation "occurred inadvertently" due to "communication delays or administrative oversight" [1].
Let's be clear about what that means. When a federal judge issues an order saying "do not transfer this person," and ICE transfers them anyway, the DOJ's position is: oops.
Fifty-six oopses in two months.
Judge Farbiarz isn't convinced these are outliers. After finding another illegal detention on February 26, he demanded the agency explain "across-the-board" steps to ensure compliance. He required a senior DOJ official to file an affidavit detailing new procedures [4].
The judge's concern: these violations are "not fully an outlier" but part of a broader pattern of noncompliance [1].
Why This Matters
New Jersey is one district. ICE operates nationwide.
If the agency violated 56 court orders in one state over two months, what's the national count? Nobody knows, because no other judge has forced an accounting.
Here's what we do know:
- 547 habeas petitions filed in New Jersey federal courts since early December, an unprecedented surge [1]
- 68,289 people in ICE detention as of February 7, 2026 [5]
- 73.6% of detainees have no criminal conviction [5]
- 179,991 people monitored by ICE's Alternatives to Detention (ankle monitors, phone tracking) [5]
The scale of enforcement has exploded. The scale of lawlessness appears to be keeping pace.
The Bigger Pattern
This isn't happening in isolation. In February 2026:
- ICE agents arrested people at courthouses despite policies against it
- The DHS face-scanning app was revealed to pull from a 1.2 billion-image database
- Federal courts are struggling to handle the flood of emergency detention challenges
- The DOJ has sued New Jersey over its sanctuary policies
The administration frames immigration enforcement as restoring law and order. The court filings tell a different story: an agency that treats judicial orders as suggestions.
What Happens Now
Judge Farbiarz has demanded procedural changes. Fox agreed that prosecutors would return improperly transferred petitioners to New Jersey [1].
But there's no real consequence for the violations themselves. Nobody gets fired. Nobody gets charged with contempt. The agency violated 56 court orders and the penalty is... promising to try harder.
That's the accountability gap. Courts can order. Agencies can ignore. And the people caught in the system have few recourses when the government breaks its own rules.
What You Can Do
Know Your Rights
If detained, you have the right to see a judge. If ICE tries to transfer you, your lawyer can file an emergency motion. ACLU Know Your Rights guide.
Document Everything
If you or someone you know faces immigration enforcement, record badge numbers, dates, locations, and any statements made. This evidence matters in court.
Contact Legal Aid
Organizations providing free legal help for immigration detention: Immigration Advocates Network directory.
Support Oversight
Contact your representatives. Ask why ICE faces no consequences for violating court orders. Demand accountability mechanisms with real teeth.
References
- Philadelphia Inquirer - The DOJ said authorities in N.J. have violated judicial orders in dozens of recent immigration matters (February 18, 2026)
- Slate - Trump's DOJ Makes a Startling Confession to New Jersey Court (February 2026)
- Courthouse News Service - DOJ Admits It Violated More Than 50 Court Orders in New Jersey (February 2026)
- New Jersey Monitor - Judge excoriates feds after another migrant detention ruled illegal (February 26, 2026)
- CTData - ICE Apprehensions and Deportations Data February 2026 Update