The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and all 15 of its judges over an order last month automatically blocking for two business days the deportation of migrants in the state who file a new lawsuit challenging their detention. The lawsuit argues that the court’s order runs afoul of Supreme Court precedent governing the standards for when and how a court can issue an injunction and that, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, courts lack authority to interfere with deportation proceedings. The Justice Department is seeking a court ruling declaring the order to be unlawful and an injunction blocking the judges from enforcing it. The Justice Department also asked the 15 Maryland federal judges to recuse themselves from hearing the case and instead have a federal judge from another state preside.
