Judge blasts ICE 'sloppiness' for claiming 4-year-old kid had a marijuana conviction
Source: The Independent
Wednesday 25 February 2026 09:36 EST
A federal judge reprimanded Donald Trump’s administration for claiming that an immigrant seeking his release from custody was convicted for marijuana possession in 2009 — when he was 4 years old. To support arguments for the man’s ongoing detention and removal from the country, government lawyers attached a document from Immigration and Customs Enforcement that they "indicated" was related to his criminal history.
They submitted the document in court filings “despite the differences in birthdate, birthplace, parents’ names, and immigration status,” West Virginia District Judge Irene Berger noted in her order to release him on Tuesday. “This sloppiness further validates the Court’s concerns about the procedures utilized by the Respondents depriving people present in the United States of their liberty,” she wrote.
Judges within the last week have held at least two government attorneys in civil contempt for failing to follow orders in immigration cases, according to documents reviewed by The Independent. Last week, Minnesota District Judge Laura M. Provinzino held a federal prosecutor in civil contempt for “flagrant disobedience of court orders” in the case of a noncitizen swept up in Trump’s surge of immigration officers in the state.
The viral rebuke, first reported by Politico, is the latest in a string of losses for Department of Justice lawyers and Homeland Security officials who are failing to keep up with court orders after thousands of arrests under Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/ice-sloppiness-judge-contempt-rulings-b2927381.html
Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://t.co/bgOzHqDKnT
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Feb 24, 2026
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After a judge ordered the release of a man from ICE custody, his wife said the agency held onto their car keys 75 miles from home. Judge McConnell has now ordered the return of their property, calling the agency's actions it "unlawful and inappropriate." https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.rid.61557/gov.uscourts.rid.61557.10.0.pdf
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Kyle Cheney
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"SLOPPINESS": The Trump administration claimed that a man detained by ICE had a criminal convictions for marijuana possession in 2009.
The judge pointed out that the man was 4 years old at the time.
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.wvsd.243037/gov.uscourts.wvsd.243037.20.0.pdf
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11:42 PM · Feb 24, 2026
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Judge Berger is obviously nobody's fool, and I'm sure she chose her words carefully and had her reasons for using the term "sloppiness." But we (and I'm sure the judge) all know what this really was: a blatant, criminal (and yes, sloppy) attempt to frame an innocent man for supposedly having been a FOUR YEAR OLD (!!!) drug dealer. Fortunately, their breathtaking stupidity and ineptitude saved this man from being labeled a criminal and deported. One wonders how many others have slipped through the cracks.
It makes me sick to see how much ICE has gotten away with (and continues to get away with). I just hope to God there will eventually be a day or reckoning for these malevolent ass clowns.
