Lawfare Daily: Challenging Immigration Detentions in Minnesota

Lawfare Podcast | February 19, 2026
Host: Natalie Orpet (Lawfare Executive Editor)
Guest: John Albanese (Attorney, Berger Montague, Minneapolis)

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the unprecedented wave of immigration detentions and habeas corpus petitions in Minnesota, sparked by aggressive federal immigration enforcement. John Albanese, a civil litigator turned habeas crusader, recounts the legal, logistical, and human challenges of representing detainees in a landscape where the government’s authority is being tested—and frequently found wanting. The conversation explores the evolving strategies of legal advocates, the judicial response to government overreach, and the profound effects on Minnesota’s legal and civic community.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Role of Habeas in Immigration Detentions

• Habeas corpus is the primary tool for challenging unlawful detainment in the immigration context.
  • John Albanese (03:35): "Habeas in an immigration context is really the...only tool available to argue that their continued detainment is unlawful and that they should be released. What I learned in law school, habeas means 'present the body'...that’s what we’re doing."
• There is a tension between immigration courts and federal courts—habeas petitions are filed in federal court, but many cases involve ongoing immigration proceedings elsewhere.
• The pace and scale of detentions have overwhelmed the usual legal channels.

2. How Detentions Are Happening—Stories from the Ground

• People are detained for a myriad of reasons: some targeted, others swept up for lack of documents, some as statutory refugees.
• Human Impact Example: A cook at Albanese's daughter’s daycare was arrested in front of parents (05:42).
• Operation Paris: Targeted refugees without green cards, arresting them at scheduled adjustment interviews unless an attorney intervened fast.
  • John Albanese (06:33): "Under Operation Paris, they are arresting and detaining all unadjusted refugees...arrested and detained and shipped down to Texas if we weren't able to get a habeas petition on file within 30 minutes..."

3. Barriers to Legal Representation

• No right to appointed counsel for immigration detainees—unlike in criminal detentions (08:24).
• Attorneys connect to clients mostly via family, unions, community organizations, and legal aid; infrastructure for mass legal response was absent beforehand.
  • John Albanese (09:31): "A lot of it's been grassroots...There was a clinic set up by a local lawyer here...She just figured out how to do it and started training others."
• Lawyers often never meet their clients; access even for legal counsel is restricted.
• Cumbersome communication: DHS made accessing detained clients difficult, both in Minnesota and after transfers to Texas.

4. Legal Community's Rapid Adaptation

• Many lawyers involved aren’t immigration or habeas specialists; most representation is pro bono.
• John Albanese (12:25): "We said we were building the plane as we were flying it, and that's...basically what it was."
• The crisis generated a huge influx of filings: over 900 habeas petitions in Minnesota in January 2026—more than total criminal cases for that period.
• Community-driven legal response: local law firms, small practices, and volunteers banding together as big firms shrink or fold.

5. Government's Evolving and Aggressive Legal Arguments

• Novel, sweeping legal positions: Administration removed Temporary Protected Status for 13–14 countries, changed the meaning of deadlines, used administrative rather than judicial warrants.
• Lawyers faced a steep learning curve: immigration law’s complexity and the government’s new, untested positions forced rapid specialization and triage.
  • John Albanese (16:05): "We quickly decided we should try to just focus on one or two particular things...immigration law is immensely complicated."
• Government asserted broad detention authority with little individualized justification.

6. Impact on the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Judiciary

• Mass resignations among Assistant U.S. Attorneys—office was "decimated" (17 out of 80-100 resigned).
• Federal lawyers from DHS stepped in as courtroom representatives, often unprepared for volume and complexity.
  • John Albanese (21:14): "There's no one who works there anymore...There was just no advance planning for any of this. It was, we're going to arrest people and the consequences would be the consequences."
• Judges responded by stepping up—issuing rapid orders, working nights/weekends, expressing skepticism of government assertions, and demanding accountability.
• Judges require not just release, but releases in Minnesota (not dumping people in Texas to find their own way home).

7. Judicial Frustration and Erosion of Trust

• Presumption of regularity—the default trust in government lawyers—is in jeopardy.
  • John Albanese (25:20): "Presumption of regularity. Nothing's regular here right now."
• Judges are explicitly skeptical of government credibility and compliance, especially after incidents like the contempt hearing involving Julie Lee.
  • Memorable Quote (24:05): "You're holding hundreds of people without any lawful basis. We're going to release them, and we expect them to be released and their property returned, and we want them to be released in Minnesota so they're not just left on the side of the road in Texas and told to find their way back."
• Impact goes beyond habeas—the government’s overall capacity, and the court’s willingness to take official statements at face value, have been fundamentally altered.

8. Litigation Logistics and Judicial Innovation

• Habeas filings are prepared within hours, often "plug and play" with key facts, in a race to beat the transfer of clients to Texas and avoid jurisdictional loss.
• Judges increasingly react and adapt: issuing blanket orders against removal from Minnesota, convening same-day hearings about missing client property, mandating return of ID/work permits.
  • John Albanese (37:56): "They're just acting very swiftly...They've just been adjusting on the fly like that."
• Courts assert jurisdiction creatively to outpace federal maneuvers; judges in Minnesota sometimes continue to entertain cases for clients moved to Texas due to slow proceedings elsewhere.

9. Broader Legal and Civic Impact

• The crisis has radicalized the Minnesota legal community: new alliances, expanded pro bono culture, a lasting shift in attitudes toward government actors.
• Permanent damage to the reputation and staffing of the U.S. Attorney's office; doubts about Minnesota returning to prior norms—especially regarding judicial trust in official government statements.
  • John Albanese (48:58): "I think the whole thing's radicalized a lot of people...A lot of people have been activated by this and there's been a lot of organizing within the legal community in the past couple months, including, you know, strange bedfellows at times, constellations of council working together that are normally on opposite sides of the V."
• Political impact: Minnesota likely to remain a Democratic stronghold due to backlash.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the urgency and chaos:
  • "If we weren't able to get a habeas petition on file within 30 minutes of them being detained..." (06:33, John Albanese)
• On government legal positions:
  • "Their assertions of authority were so sweeping that it wasn't individualized assessments about whether this person presents a flight risk or whether this person is a danger..." (13:13, John Albanese)
• On judicial response:
  • "You, you’re holding hundreds of people without any lawful basis. We’re going to release them and...we want them to be released in Minnesota so they’re not just left on the side of the road in Texas and told to find their way back." (24:05, John Albanese)
• On government’s view of judges:
  • "The sense I’ve gotten is the DHS views judges as hostile to them, and to the extent that there’s a reason not to do what the judge says, you know, go ahead and try it, regardless of whether it has a grounding in fact or law or not." (36:45, John Albanese)
• On legal community's response:
  • "Everyone felt compelled to do it...it was like you had an occupying force terrorizing neighborhoods." (12:25, John Albanese)
• On the shifting legal landscape:
  • "This has just been a huge undertaking. So I feel like we've learned something new every day and just try to try to apply it appropriately." (16:05, John Albanese)
• On future impact:
  • "The level of judicial coordination here in response to this has just been remarkable. I can't imagine another situation like this previously where really it seemed that there was a largely unified effort by the bench in terms of how we're going to handle this..." (49:55, John Albanese)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:35] — Habeas in the immigration context: “Habeas means present the body…”
• [05:42] — Personal/community stories from the front lines of detentions.
• [08:24] — Lack of right to appointed counsel in immigration detention.
• [12:25] — Lawyers adapting and mobilizing: “Building the plane as we were flying it.”
• [16:05] — Navigating complex, novel legal arguments.
• [19:12] — Minnesota bar’s pro bono commitment and firm culture.
• [21:14] — U.S. attorney’s office fallout and courtroom chaos.
• [24:05] — Judicial demands for proper releases.
• [25:20] — Loss of presumption of regularity in government lawyering.
• [37:56] — Judges’ swift adaptation and innovation amidst crisis.
• [43:49] — Emergency preparation and filing of habeas petitions.
• [48:58] — Lasting legal, civic, and political impact.

Conclusion

The episode highlights a legal community under siege but responding with unprecedented resilience and solidarity. As the legal and judicial system contorts to address federal overreach, the effects reverberate through Minnesota's civic fabric—eroding trust in government lawyering, expanding grassroots legal aid, and reshaping local politics. According to John Albanese, this moment marks not a blip but a foundational shift in the state’s legal culture and its relationship with federal enforcement.

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