Minnesota prosecutor seeks ‘immediate’ relief amid influx of 427 immigration lawsuits
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
The top federal prosecutor in Minnesota is urging an appeals court to move quickly over a key immigration enforcement dispute, saying his office is buckling under a flood of lawsuits against the Trump administration’s mass deportation push in the Twin Cities.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, an appointee of President Donald Trump, said his short-staffed office has been forced to abandon “pressing and important priorities” to manage hundreds of emergency habeas petitions filed by immigrants arrested and detained during Operation Metro Surge. In a Jan. 30 filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, Rosen disclosed that 427 immigration-related habeas cases were filed in the District of Minnesota in January alone, with the pace expected to continue into February.
Federal immigration agents detain a man during an operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 27, 2026. (Photo by Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty Images)
“To respond to this wave of habeas petitions, this Office has been forced to shift its already limited resources from other pressing and important priorities,” Rosen wrote in a declaration submitted to the appeals court. “The MN-USAO has canceled all [affirmative civil enforcement] work and any other affirmative priorities … and is operating in a reactive mode.”
Rosen, a Trump appointee confirmed by the Senate in October, said his office’s civil litigation team in his office is “down 50%” following a wave of resignations and departures at the start of Operation Metro Surge. Remaining attorneys, he said, are appearing daily for emergency hearings, often on nights, weekends, and holidays.
“The Court is setting deadlines within hours, including weekends and holidays. Paralegals are continuously working overtime. Lawyers are continuously working overtime,” Rosen wrote, adding that swift appellate intervention is “desperately needed.”
The Justice Department echoed those concerns in a filing submitted Thursday in the case at hand, Herrera Avila v. Bondi, urging the 8th Circuit to resolve the appeal on the briefs or, alternatively, to expedite oral argument. DOJ attorneys said the “crushing burden” of immigration litigation has forced U.S. attorney offices across the circuit to divert resources from “other critical priorities, including criminal matters.”
A significant part of the burden facing the federal government is the lack of clarity from federal circuit courts on the …
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
The top federal prosecutor in Minnesota is urging an appeals court to move quickly over a key immigration enforcement dispute, saying his office is buckling under a flood of lawsuits against the Trump administration’s mass deportation push in the Twin Cities.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, an appointee of President Donald Trump, said his short-staffed office has been forced to abandon “pressing and important priorities” to manage hundreds of emergency habeas petitions filed by immigrants arrested and detained during Operation Metro Surge. In a Jan. 30 filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, Rosen disclosed that 427 immigration-related habeas cases were filed in the District of Minnesota in January alone, with the pace expected to continue into February.
Federal immigration agents detain a man during an operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 27, 2026. (Photo by Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty Images)
“To respond to this wave of habeas petitions, this Office has been forced to shift its already limited resources from other pressing and important priorities,” Rosen wrote in a declaration submitted to the appeals court. “The MN-USAO has canceled all [affirmative civil enforcement] work and any other affirmative priorities … and is operating in a reactive mode.”
Rosen, a Trump appointee confirmed by the Senate in October, said his office’s civil litigation team in his office is “down 50%” following a wave of resignations and departures at the start of Operation Metro Surge. Remaining attorneys, he said, are appearing daily for emergency hearings, often on nights, weekends, and holidays.
“The Court is setting deadlines within hours, including weekends and holidays. Paralegals are continuously working overtime. Lawyers are continuously working overtime,” Rosen wrote, adding that swift appellate intervention is “desperately needed.”
The Justice Department echoed those concerns in a filing submitted Thursday in the case at hand, Herrera Avila v. Bondi, urging the 8th Circuit to resolve the appeal on the briefs or, alternatively, to expedite oral argument. DOJ attorneys said the “crushing burden” of immigration litigation has forced U.S. attorney offices across the circuit to divert resources from “other critical priorities, including criminal matters.”
A significant part of the burden facing the federal government is the lack of clarity from federal circuit courts on the …
Minnesota prosecutor seeks ‘immediate’ relief amid influx of 427 immigration lawsuits
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
The top federal prosecutor in Minnesota is urging an appeals court to move quickly over a key immigration enforcement dispute, saying his office is buckling under a flood of lawsuits against the Trump administration’s mass deportation push in the Twin Cities.
U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, an appointee of President Donald Trump, said his short-staffed office has been forced to abandon “pressing and important priorities” to manage hundreds of emergency habeas petitions filed by immigrants arrested and detained during Operation Metro Surge. In a Jan. 30 filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, Rosen disclosed that 427 immigration-related habeas cases were filed in the District of Minnesota in January alone, with the pace expected to continue into February.
Federal immigration agents detain a man during an operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol in St. Paul, Minnesota, on January 27, 2026. (Photo by Octavio JONES / AFP via Getty Images)
“To respond to this wave of habeas petitions, this Office has been forced to shift its already limited resources from other pressing and important priorities,” Rosen wrote in a declaration submitted to the appeals court. “The MN-USAO has canceled all [affirmative civil enforcement] work and any other affirmative priorities … and is operating in a reactive mode.”
Rosen, a Trump appointee confirmed by the Senate in October, said his office’s civil litigation team in his office is “down 50%” following a wave of resignations and departures at the start of Operation Metro Surge. Remaining attorneys, he said, are appearing daily for emergency hearings, often on nights, weekends, and holidays.
“The Court is setting deadlines within hours, including weekends and holidays. Paralegals are continuously working overtime. Lawyers are continuously working overtime,” Rosen wrote, adding that swift appellate intervention is “desperately needed.”
The Justice Department echoed those concerns in a filing submitted Thursday in the case at hand, Herrera Avila v. Bondi, urging the 8th Circuit to resolve the appeal on the briefs or, alternatively, to expedite oral argument. DOJ attorneys said the “crushing burden” of immigration litigation has forced U.S. attorney offices across the circuit to divert resources from “other critical priorities, including criminal matters.”
A significant part of the burden facing the federal government is the lack of clarity from federal circuit courts on the …
