A broken gavel

Andrea Austria / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

Right-wing influencers pushed the Trump admin to ignore judges. New reporting shows that's what's happening — especially in immigration cases.

Since the beginning of Trump’s second administration, right-wing media have encouraged an “all-out war” on judges and dismissed the “so-called rights of illegals”

Written by Gideon Taaffe & Jack Winstanley

Published

Recent reporting shows how the Trump administration — particularly the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency — “has slow-walked or outright defied” numerous court orders as it continues its nationwide crackdown against immigrants. 

Politico highlighted several instances of judges speaking against the Trump administration over its defiance of judges and efforts to undermine due process for immigrants. The New York Times reported in January that ICE has violated nearly 100 court orders, and last summer, The Washington Post examined over a hundred cases on various matters and found “the administration is accused of defying or frustrating court oversight in 57.”

Meanwhile, since the beginning of Trump’s second administration, right-wing media figures have repeatedly encouraged a hostile approach to the courts, attacking judges who challenge Trump’s actions, calling for judges to be impeached, and encouraging the administration to deny noncitizens their due process rights.

  • Recent reporting shows the Trump administration’s continued defiance of judges and efforts to undermine due process

    • Politico reported that ICE officials have “slow-walked or outright defied judges’ orders,” including some demanding the release of people detained by the agency, and The New York Times reported that one judge says ICE has violated nearly 100 court orders. One Minnesota judge said that ICE’s delay in releasing people from custody is a “constitutional injury,” adding, “The individuals affected are people. The overwhelming majority of the hundreds seen by this Court have been found to be lawfully present as of now in the country. They live in their communities. Some are separated from their families.” Politico had previously reported the allegation that ICE officials “simply don’t respond” to Department of Justice requests to cooperate with investigations and ongoing legal proceedings. [Politico, 2/10/26, 2/4/26; The New York Times, 1/28/26]
    • ICE also undermines due process for detainees by shuffling them around the country to make it difficult for them to sue the government for their release, according to Politico. Detainees generally need to sue from the district where they are held in order to be released, but as Politico notes, “that gets complicated when ICE rushes detainees out of state and bounces them around the country while they’re attempting to hire lawyers or decide where to file lawsuits.” The Vera Institute has reported that the Trump administration also undermined due process by detaining people as they appear for their legal obligations while attending court hearings and check-ins with ICE. [Politico, 2/10/26; The Vera Institute, 1/20/26]
    • Politico reported that judges have called the administration’s actions a “pattern of obfuscation” and an effort “to frustrate judicial review” and identified at least 347 judges “who have rejected the administration’s detention policy.” One judge rebuked the administration’s movement of a detainee, saying, “There is something particularly craven about transferring a nursing refugee mother out-of-state.” [Politico, 2/10/26, 1/26/26]
    • The Washington Post reported on the Trump administration defying judges on topics outside of immigration too, examining 165 lawsuits and finding “the administration is accused of defying or frustrating court oversight in 57 of those cases — almost 35 percent.” The Post identified cases where the Trump administration defied judges by continuing to lay off federal employees, refusing to unfreeze appropriated funds, and targeting transgender people in the military. [The Washington Post, 7/21/25]

  • Right-wing media figures have continually called for the Trump administration to defy “activist judges” and ignore “lawless and dangerous” court orders

    • The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh declared that there “needs to be an all-out war at this point against activist judges” opposing Trump’s actions. Walsh additionally argued that “unelected judges” were “trying to override, not just the president, but the will of the people.” [The Daily Wire, The Matt Walsh Show, 3/19/25]
    • SiriusXM radio host Megyn Kelly claimed that “the Trump administration is not going to have a choice” but to ignore the courts. She added: “They're trying to create a constitutional crisis is, I guess, the point I'm making.” [SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 2/13/25]
    • Right-wing commentator Dan Bongino, who served as co-deputy director of the FBI under Trump, argued that the Trump administration “should ignore” federal district Judge John McConnell’s court order to restore frozen federal funds. Bongino, who mistakenly said McConnell is from New York rather than Rhode Island, said, “This judge is clearly making up powers he does not have,” adding, “He does not have power to demand the president spend money.” McConnell had issued a permanent injunction barring Trump from dismantling several federal agencies and gutting staff from others and had blocked a separate move by the administration to peg funds for road and highway maintenance to state compliance with immigration demands. [Rumble, The Dan Bongino Show, 2/11/25; Rhode Island Current, 11/24/25; Politico, 11/4/25]
    • On CNN, conservative contributor Scott Jennings suggested the president may need to “defy” judges who order his administration to comply with the law. He asked: “Should the president, the singular president, should he have to share the presidency with 300 district court judges? No. Absolutely not.” [CNN, NewsNight with Abby Phillip, 2/10/25]
    • Right-wing influencer account “Amuse” wrote of McConnell’s ruling, “The Trump Administration should treat this for what it is—an unconstitutional usurpation—and consider defying it outright.” [Media Matters, 2/13/25]
    • Fox News host Mark Levin cited controversial federal court rulings from the past — including Plessy v. Ferguson and the Dred Scott decision — to argue for the administration to defy court orders. Levin justified rejecting court decisions, saying, “Some of the worst human rights violations and crises occurred in this country as a result of our courts.” [Fox News, Life, Liberty, & Levin, 2/15/25]
    • Article III Project President Mike Davis argued on The Charlie Kirk Show that if “activist judges” keep pushing back on Trump’s actions then “the president is just going to ignore these lawless and dangerous orders.” He continued, “When they overstep, the commander-in-chief has a constitutional duty to ignore clearly lawless orders.” [Real America’s Voice, The Charlie Kirk Show, 4/15/25]
    • On The Benny Show, Davis said he hoped “President Trump said ‘F you’ to Judge Boasberg” and said Boasberg was trying to order “the most dangerous thing imaginable.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 3/17/25; NPR, 3/25/25]

  • Some right-wing media figures have criticized the judiciary’s oversight and called for judges to be impeached

    • Fox News legal editor Kerri Kupec Urbahn argued that “the conversation really should start shifting to the constitutionality of the judiciary.” She added that the judiciary is “blocking a co-equal branch’s function.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/11/25]
    • Newsmax host Rob Schmitt called for federal judges to be impeached: “You can’t have people like this on the bench.” [Newsmax, Rob Schmitt Tonight, 2/12/25]
    • Right-wing commentator Steve Bannon called on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to impeach a federal judge, saying, “You put one through the process, they’re all going to be sheep.” He advised Johnson, “Just don't back off. All gas, no brake.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 3/24/25]
    • Then-Fox News host and current U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro called Boasberg “stupid” and questioned his authority to rule on deportation flights because he is “a local judge.” Pirro stated, “A local judge — make no mistake, this is a local judge, folks, who is a trial judge, he’s not even an appellate judge — thinks he can stop international diplomacy for national security issues that involve the American people because he’s a local federal judge. He’s stupid.” [Fox News, The Five, 3/17/25]
    • Urbahn said Boasberg has no oversight “over matters pertaining to immigration” because he’s not president. Urbahn stated, “Really, what’s his oversight at all? Because last time I checked, this judge was not elected president of the United States and therefore doesn’t have authority over matters pertaining to immigration, national security, and foreign policy.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/18/25]
    • The Gateway Pundit posted instructions on how to advocate for impeachment of “crazed leftists” like Boasberg. It described the judge as “a very, very dangerous and lawless lunatic” and “America-hating.” [Media Matters, 3/18/25]

  • Right-wing media figures have also suggested that due process shouldn’t apply to noncitizens, with some calling for a suspension of habeas corpus

    • Newsmax host Rob Schmitt claimed undocumented immigrants and Democrats “have exploited the good nature of this country” and that “due process … allows illegals to break into the country, rape and kill an American, and then be given a free attorney to defend themselves.” Schmitt continued, “Those are vulnerabilities that are now being exploited every day in this country.” [Newsmax, Rob Schmitt Tonight, 3/17/25]
    • On the right-wing social media platform GETTR, Steve Bannon posted: “Alien Criminal Invaders DON’T Get ‘Due Process’—They Get the Boot.” [GETTR, 3/17/25]
    • On Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade questioned whether migrants have the right to due process, saying, “Really? They deserve due process? We have to give all these guys due process?” Later, co-host Lawrence Jones mocked questions about the process, saying, “So we’re going to do vetting when we deport, but we’re not going to do any vetting when they come across the border?” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/21/25, 3/21/25]
    • Kilmeade also claimed, “It’s not practical to think that we can do due process on 8 million people.” Shortly after, he continued: “We cannot give every illegal immigrant due process, because we’ve got 22 million minimum, 8 million that came over the last four years.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/24/25, 3/24/25]
    • Jones said we should “revisit” due process for alleged undocumented migrants. Jones: “The president is saying under the act that you don’t have to show, you don’t have to do this due process. So you have a constitutional right that is actually — they are afforded to illegals in this country. We should revisit that. But then you have a competing act that is saying, hey, if someone is a part of a foreign terrorist organization that you don’t have to give them due process and they can be deported.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/24/25]
    • Right-wing podcaster and Trump ally Laura Loomer asked, “Who on earth thought that illegal aliens should be entitled to legal representation and rights? These people are not entitled to due process in our country.” Loomer continued, “I don’t even give a shit about all these illegal alien kids.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 4/30/25]
    • YouTuber Zack Hoyt said, “I don’t really think that illegals deserve due process, by the way. I don’t think the Constitution applies to illegals.” Hoyt, who goes by Asmongold, acknowledged that the government could “get it wrong” when detaining immigrants but said: “There’s people in jail for murder that didn’t commit murder. … Does that mean we shouldn’t put people in jail for murder? … It just doesn’t make any sense.” [Asmongold, Asmongold TV, 6/9/25]
    • Fox host Sean Hannity asked, “Why do people have this belief system that you enter the country illegally and then you, quote, ‘automatically have constitutional rights’? You do not, in my view.” Hannity also said, “Why do so many federal judges believe that the safety and security of all of you comes second to the so-called due process rights of illegal immigrants that broke into this country illegally, broke the law, committed serious crimes?” Hannity has repeatedly referred to the “so-called rights of illegals.” [Fox News, Hannity, 5/21/25, 7/14/25, 7/15/25, 7/22/25; Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 7/1/25, 7/24/25]
    • Jeanine Pirro said, “The only due process I believe in is a legal way to enter this country.” Pirro said of Trump’s deportation of alleged Tren de Aragua gang members to a megaprison in El Salvador: “They are illegal. They are committing crimes, OK? We do not have to have them convicted of a crime to remove them.” Pirro later said the Fifth Amendment, which confers the right to due process, “says nothing about illegals” and “the Supreme Court never said in Abrego Garcia case that due process is required for illegals.” [Fox News, The Five, 3/17/25, 3/17/25, 5/5/25]
    • Newsmax host Greg Kelly said, “Habeas corpus is great, but I don’t think it applies to an illegal alien.” [Newsmax, Greg Kelly Reports, 7/8/25]
    • Bannon argued that Trump is “going to have to” suspend habeas corpus, “because these courts are going to continue to try to jam him up.” And later Bannon hailed himself and right-wing commentator Rogan O’Handley as “the biggest advocates of just do what Lincoln did: Start suspending the writ of habeas corpus, put them on an aircraft, and get them the hell out of here.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 5/16/25, 5/30/25]
    • Rogan O’Handley argued that “we should consider suspending the writ of habeas” so that “we can start to take more drastic actions to deport illegals, especially the cartels, without judicial overview, without the courts getting involved.” Handley, who goes by DC Draino, explained to Bannon, “I would say 10 to 20 million illegal aliens coming into this country counts as an invasion, especially when many of the illegal aliens are coming from hostile adversaries like China, like Ukraine, like … Venezuela, the Tren de Aragua. They’re being sent by these governments.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 4/22/25]
    • Fox host Emily Compagno criticized those who have called for due process for the deportees, saying, “I think it’s rich that all of a sudden we have some kind of, you know, voiced protection of due process and questioning of making sure all of the work is shown.” Compagno then questioned, “Where was that when, for example, President Trump was being prosecuted, ridiculously, right here in this very city? Where was that commitment to due process for those peaceful abortion activists and the elderly being put in jail?” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 3/19/25]
    • Right-wing radio host Buck Sexton mocked those questioning whether alleged criminals should be sent to a Salvadoran prison and said, “Democrats are going to the mat to make sure they have maximum due process rights,” but “had no problem with nonviolent J6 Americans rotting away.” According to Sexton, “The same Democrats — and I mean the same individuals in some cases in the media and the Democrat party — who had no problem with nonviolent J6 Americans rotting away in a DC gulag for a year without trial are now really concerned about Tren de Aragua members.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, 3/21/25]