TACOMA, Washington– Four Washington state immigration judges were years ahead of a sea change in immigration enforcement that reversed a long-standing American tradition.
The refusal to release many detainees on immigration charges has unleashed tens of thousands of lawsuits since July, alleging violations of constitutional rights against unlawful detention. The Trump administration suffered a legal setback this month when an appeals court subsequently struck down its policy Two other courts of appeal had agreed to it, leading to a potential showdown in the Supreme Court.
The practice has already been in place for years in Tacoma, where immigration judges at the Northwest ICE Processing Center began denying bonds early this decade. Few people notice this outside of the immigration lawyers out there. But when the Trump administration adopted the theory last year, it echoed the justices’ reasoning.
Neil Floyd, the only one of Tacoma’s four judges who agreed to speak to The Associated Press, said clerks researched the case for about six months before the justices decided that Congress had never authorized them to grant bonds.
“We made the decision that we were going to do this collectively because it was a very big decision for someone to go that far on their own,” said Floyd, who became Seattle’s top federal prosecutor during President Donald Trump’s second term.
The justices were inspired by a 1996 law that stipulates that “applicants for admission” to the United States must be detained. The law has long been interpreted to affect people who recently cross the border without legal permission. People who have lived here for years have been classified under a different law that allows for bond hearings.
Tacoma’s judges may seem unlikely figures to lead such radical change. While the four – Teresa Scala, Tacoma’s chief judge at the time; John O’Dell; Tammy fitting; and Floyd – began their careers as attorneys at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and each was granted asylum at rates slightly higher than the national average.
Floyd, who left Tacoma after Trump took office last year to advise the FBI on immigration law before moving to his current position, said the judges’ conclusion was a matter of fairness based on the law.
“This is the correct interpretation of the law, and it is the only fair interpretation, because if you enter the United States the correct way, by coming and knocking on the door to seek asylum at the port of entry, the law is 100% clear,” Floyd said. “And you’ve been detained from the beginning until we decide whether to let you in or not.”
Immigration lawyers in Tacoma were stunned. They searched the nation for anything similar and found nothing.
“In our view, this was a blatant prosecution to keep people locked up,” said Matt Adams, an attorney with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, which filed a lawsuit over the practice. A trial date has not yet been set in the case.
The lawsuit, filed in March 2025, alleges that Tacoma judges ignored decades of precedent.
The Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs more than 70 immigration courts across the country, did not respond to requests for comment.
In July, ICE announced a major change reflecting the view of Tacoma judges, stipulating that immigrants who had been in the United States for years were considered “admissible applicants” if they did not enter the United States legally and, as a result, were subject to mandatory detention.
She began arguing against all bond hearings. The Justice Department’s Immigration Appeals Board, which sets policy for the courts, agreed with ICE’s arguments in September.
The number of people in ICE custody nearly doubled last year, peaking at about 75,000 in January. ICE plans to spend $38.3 billion To increase arrest to 92,300 beds by the end of November, largely by opening warehouses, or “super centres”, each with capacity for up to 10,000 people. Judges say massive ICE raids have occurred Stress worsens.
Once eligible for bonds, about two million immigrants now face mandatory detention if caught. Immigration detainees have filed more than 40,000 lawsuits since Trump returned to office 16 months ago, according to an Associated Press tally.
Despite the Trump administration’s position, many immigrants have succeeded in the courts. Some federal judges have ordered immediate release, while others have sent the cases back to immigration court for bond hearings.
Victor Cruz, a skilled worker in Portland, Oregon, spent 24 days in the Tacoma Detention Center after ICE agents arrested him without a warrant. An immigration judge granted him a bail hearing and released him in October. He won his immigration case in February.
Cruz, 56, has US citizens in his immediate family and spends his weekends playing with his grandchildren. He keeps a folder in his car containing all of his immigration documents, fearing that immigration authorities will detain him again. He said he met people detained who “had been there six months, nine months.”
On a recent Friday in Tacoma, Fitting — one of the original four judges — held bond hearings under orders from a federal judge.
She denied bond for an Oregon dishwasher with a 2002 drunk-driving conviction. But she granted $14,000 bail to another immigrant with no criminal record, while saying his path to legal status was weak.
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Attanasio is a former correspondent for The Associated Press.