Politico Reporter Rebukes Stephen Miller Over Misleading Claim on Detention Rulings

Overview

• Stephen Miller posted a screenshot of a Jan. 5 Politico headline and claimed judges had “unconstitutionally and unlawfully” ordered immigrant releases over 1,600 times.
• Kyle Cheney replied that Miller misrepresented the piece, which reported courts’ rejection of the administration’s new ‘mandatory detention’ interpretation rather than judges acting outside the law.
• Cheney updated his tally to more than 2,100 cases, noting judges have ruled against the policy by a margin of 335–18, including Trump appointees ruling 33–15 against it.
• The underlying analysis found hundreds of federal judges across appointments ordered release or bond hearings, frequently citing due-process violations tied to the expanded detention approach.
• Despite the volume of adverse rulings, no nationwide injunction has been issued because most challenges are filed individually on an emergency basis, prompting repetitive, terse judicial orders.