Just when I think the federal judiciary can’t possibly make a further mockery of itself, it manages to do just that. Don’t get me wrong — there are still plenty of solid jurists out there, and we’ve seen some favorable (and proper) rulings in the multitude of cases involving the Trump administration. I expect to see more. I also don’t expect the administration to win every case/issue. I’m not naive, and they’re not perfect. 

That said, a federal district court judge in Massachusetts on Wednesday really outdid himself with a pair of rulings issued in one of the many ongoing immigration/removal-related cases. Not only did he find that the Trump administration had violated his previously entered preliminary injunction, but the remedy he ordered for that was beyond ridiculous. 

To set the stage, I’ll refer back to Ward Clark’s reporting on the issue from Wednesday morning:

To begin at the beginning: On Tuesday, a federal district judge, Brian E. Murphy, ordered the Department of Homeland Security to maintain custody of any illegal aliens being deported to a third-party nation — that is, a nation that is neither the United States nor the home country of the persons in question. Of particular note were eight illegal aliens from Vietnam, Mexico, Cuba, Myanmar, and other places. All have been convicted of serious crimes and were to be deported to detention in South Sudan. Deportation flights for these illegals have, for the moment, halted.

…

Note that the eight men who are the specific subjects named here are not just illegal aliens. They have committed heinous crimes, far beyond just the fact of their illegal entry. These monsters have preyed on American citizens, and the Trump administration is correct to seek their removal, but in several of these cases, the criminals’ home nation won’t accept their return. South Sudan, granted, is an eyebrow-raising choice of destinations, but as of this writing, it’s unclear if that was the final destination for these criminals.

So, to be clear, these were individuals convicted of vicious crimes who were already subject to removal. The only hang-up was that their own native countries didn’t want them back. (Imagine that.)