The Justice Department this week moved to disqualify two Minnesota-based federal judges involved in immigration cases over their remarks about ICE to The New York Times.
The DOJ moved to kick off Judges John Tunheim and Patrick Schlitz for trashing ICE’s Operation Metro Surge in remarks to The New York Times.
In September, Judge Schlitz told The New York Times that Operation Metro Surge created “a grave threat to the rule of law.”
Judge Tunheim told The Times that ICE agents were not primarily targeting dangerous criminals.
“Impartiality is imperative to ensuring public trust in our Nation’s judiciary. Judge Schiltz’s and Judge Tunheim’s on-the-record participation in a recent highly partisan New York Times Article, along with Judge Schiltz’s subsequent public comments, unquestionably calls into doubt whether they can be impartial in these cases,” the DOJ said.
“A judge who has publicly taken a political side on the issue of enforcing our Nation’s immigration laws cannot then preside over a case concerning one of the Justice Department’s key immigration enforcement initiatives,” the DOJ said.
Impartiality is imperative to ensuring public trust in our Nation’s judiciary. Judge Schiltz’s and Judge Tunheim’s on-the-record participation in a recent highly partisan New York Times Article, along with Judge Schiltz’s subsequent public comments, unquestionably calls into doubt whether they can be impartial in these cases. A judge who has publicly taken a political side on the issue of enforcing our Nation’s immigration laws cannot then preside over a case concerning one of the Justice Department’s key immigration enforcement initiatives.
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) October 21, 2026
Fox News reported:
Two Minnesota federal judges who took the unusual step of publicly criticizing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown to the New York Times are now fighting the administration’s efforts to disqualify them from cases involving immigration enforcement.
One of those judges, Patrick Schiltz, is overseeing the Justice Department’s effort to strip U. S. citizenship from Salah Osman Ahmed, a Somali-born man who pleaded guilty in 2009 to providing material support to terrorists after joining al- Shabaab. The other, John Tunheim, is presiding over the prosecution of a South African national accused of falsely claiming U. S. citizenship and illegally voting in the 2024 election.
The Justice Department filed separate motions asking Schiltz and Tunheim to recuse themselves, arguing that their participation in the New York Times report criticizing President Donald Trump’s Operation Metro Surge has raised questions about whether they can fairly preside over the cases.
The Justice Department’s formal recusal demand follows reporting by Fox News Digital last month detailing unusual behind-the-scenes coordination among Minnesota’s federal bench as judges confronted a massive influx of immigration cases stemming from the administration’s enforcement operation. The report came after Schiltz and Tunheim were among seven Minnesota federal judges who spoke with the Times in September about Operation Metro Surge. Schiltz sat for a roughly 90- minute interview during which he described the administration’s handling of the operation as having created a “grave threat to the rule of law,” while Tunheim suggested to the Times that agents carrying out the administration’s immigration crackdown were not primarily apprehending dangerous criminals.
DOJ had already raised the prospect that judges who publicly discussed the administration’s immigration cases might need to step aside when the Times report was released in September. Last month, DOJ filed a judicial misconduct complaint against Schiltz, Tunheim and other Minnesota judges who participated in the Times report, accusing them of violating judicial ethics rules and asking the Eighth Circuit to investigate. Attorney General Todd Blanche said their conduct had “undermined public confidence in an impartial judiciary in Minnesota.”
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