Today, Explained — "How deportation broke the courts"

Date: February 12, 2026
Host: Noel King (Vox)
Guests: Kyle Cheney (Politico Senior Legal Affairs Reporter), Ian Millhiser (Vox Supreme Court Reporter)
Main Theme:
How the Trump administration’s mass deportation and detention efforts have overwhelmed the federal court system, leading to sweeping policy reinterpretations, legal chaos, and mass resignations within the Department of Justice.

Episode Overview

This episode investigates the Trump administration's aggressive approach to immigration enforcement — specifically, the mass detention and deportation campaign — and how it has triggered a crisis of capacity and legality in the federal court system. Journalists Kyle Cheney and Ian Millhiser detail the controversial reinterpretation of immigration law, a recent pivotal ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the mounting legal pushback (including from judges appointed by Trump), and the catastrophic staffing crisis in the Department of Justice that now threatens due process and the careers of government lawyers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Shift in Immigration Enforcement

(02:16 – 04:08)

• Kyle Cheney explains that the Trump administration has reinterpreted old immigration laws to justify mass detention, not just deportation. This reinterpretation, formalized in a July 8 ICE memo, allows law enforcement to treat long-term residents as "arriving aliens," subjecting them to mandatory detention.
• Previously, only recent border crossers faced such rigid detention rules. The Trump administration’s approach is unprecedented in scope and legal theory.

“The way they’re doing that is reinterpreting old laws and trying to apply them in a different way.”
— Kyle Cheney (02:16)

2. Legal Pushback and the Fifth Circuit Ruling

(04:53 – 07:56)

• Most courts have repeatedly rejected the administration's interpretation. Cheney notes that more than 3,000 times, judges have ruled against this reading, including hundreds of Trump appointees. Yet, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the administration’s approach.
• Judge Dana Douglas (the dissenting voice) memorably summarized her opposition:

  “Straining at a gnat, the majority swallows a camel.” (05:05)

• While geographically limited (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi), the Fifth Circuit's jurisdiction is pivotal because many detainees are flown to Texas, amplifying the impact. Still, circuits are split, making Supreme Court review likely.

3. Unintended Consequences: U.S. Citizens Detained

(07:56 – 10:06)

• The mass, indiscriminate approach has led to U.S. citizens being wrongly swept up in ICE raids. Kyle Cheney highlights how immigration agents, empowered by courts' acquiescence to using race, language, or accent as factors, sometimes detain American citizens with inadequate legal recourse.
• The process to prove citizenship can be arduous, especially under rules that deny bond or hearings, creating “nightmare scenarios.”

“The notion that someone could get swept up as a US Citizen is very easy. And then proving that, especially...where courts are denying bond...that could become very complicated.”
— Kyle Cheney (09:36)

4. Breakdown in Legal Infrastructure

(15:09 – 25:06)

• Ian Millhiser recounts the story of Julie Lee, a DOJ lawyer in Minneapolis who told a judge, “this job sucks,” and confessed to wishing she’d be held in contempt to get some rest.
• Lee was assigned 88 cases in a single month — far exceeding professional guidelines (150 per year is typical). Such overwhelming workloads prevent timely compliance with court orders, leading to mass illegal detentions and government violation of nearly 100 court orders in a single month.

“She was doing the work of about a half a dozen lawyers.”
— Ian Millhiser (16:52)

• The inability to process releases means judges’ orders go unheeded, not due to malice, but sheer lack of capacity.
• ICE’s legal arm is so depleted that judges worry about the government simply ignoring the rule of law.

“There's a bit of a harrowing dance...judges are trying to pressure the Trump administration to comply. At some point...is the Justice Department at some point gonna throw up both of its middle fingers and say, 'well, we're just not gonna enforce that order.’”
— Ian Millhiser (20:26)

5. DOJ Staffing Crisis and Politicization

(21:00 – 25:06)

• The DOJ is hemorrhaging lawyers: a 14% loss nationwide since Trump's return, with the crisis acute in Minnesota. Resignations are triggered by unmanageable workloads and resistance to the administration’s agenda.
• Formerly elite positions now recruit openly on social media. Additionally, new hires must pass ideological screenings.
• To fill gaps, “jump teams” of prosecutors and even military JAG lawyers are deployed to overwhelmed districts, which compromises federal prosecutions elsewhere.

“If you limit the universe of your applicants to MAGA lawyers, then you're going to get worse lawyers because it's just a smaller pool.”
— Ian Millhiser (23:32)

6. Long-Term Implications for Government and Legal Institutions

(25:13 – 27:24)

• Millhiser warns that institutional damage could last years. Talented young lawyers will shun DOJ jobs — once seen as prestigious — fearing association with “career cancer” due to dysfunction, burnout, and public controversy.

“I'm not going to go work for that employer. And no sensible lawyer is going to want to...that could be career cancer.”
— Ian Millhiser (26:34)

• The choice to politicize and overload the DOJ not only erodes due process for immigrants but risks leaving the federal government chronically understaffed and less capable for years to come.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the legal rationale for mass detention:

  “It would be kind of shocking if for 30 years, every other administration had this power to mass detain people and didn’t realize it.”
  — Kyle Cheney (05:05)

• Judge Dana Douglas, dissenting at the Fifth Circuit:

  “Straining at a gnat, the majority swallows a camel.”
  — (05:05)

• On the magnitude of rejected cases:

  “I’ve counted it more than 3,000 times judges have rejected the administration’s view of this policy. The number is something like 370 judges have opposed this to only 27 who have sided with the administration.”
  — Kyle Cheney (07:09)

• On U.S. citizens caught up in raids:

  “Now it’s becoming more of a reality where people are getting swept up because of...the sort of roving, sweeping effort to detain so many people, that...someone could get swept up as a U.S. citizen is very easy.”
  — Kyle Cheney (09:36)

• Julie Lee, DOJ lawyer, overwhelmed:

  “Sometimes she wants the judge to hold her in contempt so she can get a night’s sleep.”
  — Ian Millhiser (15:27)

• On DOJ attrition and politicization:

  “Normally, DOJ does not struggle to find very, very, very qualified job applicants. But...apparently the Justice Department is applying an ideological screen—do you support Donald Trump’s agenda?”
  — Ian Millhiser (22:41)

Important Timestamps

• 02:16 – 04:08: Trump administration’s reinterpretation of detention laws.
• 04:53 – 07:56: Court pushback and the Fifth Circuit’s ruling.
• 07:56 – 10:06: U.S. citizens mistakenly detained; due process crisis.
• 15:09 – 19:09: Story of Julie Lee and the workload breakdown.
• 21:00 – 25:06: DOJ resignations, recruitment crisis, and new hiring filters.
• 25:13 – 27:24: Long-term risks for the government and legal system.

Conclusion

The episode paints a dire portrait of strained legal systems, inflexible and punitive policy shifts, human collateral damage including U.S. citizens, and a federal workforce facing massive burnout and institutional decay. The Trump administration’s approach to mass detention is described as one that not only "breaks the courts," but threatens both the rule of law and the capacity of American government for years to come.

This summary captures the substance and tone of the original conversation, attributing key arguments and memorable phrasing to the original speakers.