{"id":145259,"date":"2026-03-03T08:30:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/03\/03\/west-virginia-is-not-here-for-authoritarian-cosplay\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T08:30:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:30:30","slug":"west-virginia-is-not-here-for-authoritarian-cosplay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/03\/03\/west-virginia-is-not-here-for-authoritarian-cosplay\/","title":{"rendered":"West Virginia Is Not Here For Authoritarian Cosplay"},"content":{"rendered":"

Down in the Southern District of West Virginia, four federal judges \u2014 appointed by presidents of both parties \u2014 have spent the last several weeks issuing rulings sounding the alarm over a MAGA immigration initiative dubbed \u201cOperation Country Roads.\u201d<\/p>\n

The policy, a partnership between federal and local law enforcement, reportedly netted roughly 650 arrests in January alone, largely targeting immigrants driving along the state\u2019s roadways. What followed was the predictable wave of habeas petitions from people (many without criminal records and with longstanding ties to the United States) challenging their detention by ICE.<\/p>\n

What was less predictable? Just how blunt the judges would be. <\/p>\n

Politico reports<\/a> on the resistance coming from deep in Trump country, and what the judges are saying in West Virginia should make anyone sit up and take notice.<\/p>\n

In a February 19 opinion Judge Joseph Goodwin did not bother with the usual soft-focus judicial prose.<\/p>\n

\u201cAntiseptic judicial rhetoric cannot do justice to what is happening,\u201d wrote the Clinton appointee. He then described agents \u201cmasked, anonymous, armed with military weapons, operating from unmarked vehicles, acting without warrants of any kind\u201d seizing people for civil immigration violations and locking them up \u201cwithout any semblance of due process.\u201d<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe systematic character of this practice and its deliberate elimination of every structural feature that distinguishes constitutional authority from raw force place it beyond the reach of ordinary legal description,\u201d Goodwin wrote. \u201cIt is an assault on the constitutional order.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a subsequent opinion he labeled a \u201cfinal notice,\u201d Goodwin made it crystal clear that the court\u2019s patience had expired:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe Government is wrong. Judges in this district have said that over and over and over.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And then, \u201cIf officials could repeat practices already determined to be unconstitutional and require each affected person to begin anew \u2026 judicial power would be reduced to commentary.\u00a0The Constitution does not contemplate violations in installments.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the pushback hasn\u2019t come from just one judge.<\/p>\n

Judge Robert Chambers, another Clinton appointee, lamented that the American dream has been \u201ctarnished\u201d by what he described as illegal detentions.<\/p>\n

Judge Irene Berger, an Obama appointee, accused the administration of showing a \u201clack of respect for the law,\u201d noting that arrests continued at a rapid clip despite multiple rulings declaring the practices unlawful.<\/p>\n

Berger\u2019s opinions have been particularly pointed. She pointed out \u201csloppiness\u201d so bad it makes you wonder what else is messing up. Like when the government accused one ICE detainee of having marijuana possession convictions from 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Petitioner was four years old in 2009,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Berger and Judge Thomas Johnston, a George W. Bush appointee, have separately called out the bond process as a sham, and noted ordering more sham hearings isn\u2019t a remedy. Gone are \u201cimmigration judges who provide neutral adjudications\u201d replaced with bond that is \u201csystematically denied after a pro forma hearing with a predetermined outcome.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Johnston, for his part, distilled the stakes in stark terms:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the government may simply seize someone without due process, there is no check on its ability to seize anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then he delivered the line that cuts through the usual culture-war framing:<\/p>\n

\u201cOne might say, \u2018I don\u2019t care because that only happens to THOSE people.\u2019 Perhaps. But what if someone here legally, or even a United States citizen, is afforded no due process after being seized by mistake? Or by a choice?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately,\u201d he concluded, \u201cour Constitution demands more, including the rule of law, as opposed to the rule of unchecked executive fiat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Johnston is right about the constitutional demands, but\u2026 is anyone in MAGAland listening? Like Judge Goodwin said, \u201cThe problem lies in the attorneys\u2019 clients, federal government actors, who have offered no evidence that they have seen or even care about the legal rulings of this district.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe disregard for the law shames every hardworking public servant who toils for the benefit of the country and its people.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the only comment the government has made is red-hatted ragebait that\u2019s wildly out-of-touch with what the judges are seeing on the ground, saying he Justice Department \u201cis focused on law and order, public safety, and will not tolerate any violence directed toward law enforcement officials working tirelessly to keep Americans safe, despite the best efforts of activist judges who\u2019d rather see violent illegal criminals walk free.\u201d <\/p>\n

Because in 2026 judicial due process concerns are synonymous with activist judges.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The post West Virginia Is Not Here For Authoritarian Cosplay<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Down in the Southern District of West Virginia, four federal judges \u2014 appointed by presidents of both parties \u2014 have spent the last several weeks issuing rulings sounding the alarm over a MAGA immigration initiative dubbed \u201cOperation Country Roads.\u201d<\/p>\n

The policy, a partnership between federal and local law enforcement, reportedly netted roughly 650 arrests in January alone, largely targeting immigrants driving along the state\u2019s roadways. What followed was the predictable wave of habeas petitions from people (many without criminal records and with longstanding ties to the United States) challenging their detention by ICE.<\/p>\n

What was less predictable? Just how blunt the judges would be. <\/p>\n

Politico reports<\/a> on the resistance coming from deep in Trump country, and what the judges are saying in West Virginia should make anyone sit up and take notice.<\/p>\n

In a February 19 opinion Judge Joseph Goodwin did not bother with the usual soft-focus judicial prose.<\/p>\n

\u201cAntiseptic judicial rhetoric cannot do justice to what is happening,\u201d wrote the Clinton appointee. He then described agents \u201cmasked, anonymous, armed with military weapons, operating from unmarked vehicles, acting without warrants of any kind\u201d seizing people for civil immigration violations and locking them up \u201cwithout any semblance of due process.\u201d<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe systematic character of this practice and its deliberate elimination of every structural feature that distinguishes constitutional authority from raw force place it beyond the reach of ordinary legal description,\u201d Goodwin wrote. \u201cIt is an assault on the constitutional order.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a subsequent opinion he labeled a \u201cfinal notice,\u201d Goodwin made it crystal clear that the court\u2019s patience had expired:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe Government is wrong. Judges in this district have said that over and over and over.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And then, \u201cIf officials could repeat practices already determined to be unconstitutional and require each affected person to begin anew \u2026 judicial power would be reduced to commentary.\u00a0The Constitution does not contemplate violations in installments.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the pushback hasn\u2019t come from just one judge.<\/p>\n

Judge Robert Chambers, another Clinton appointee, lamented that the American dream has been \u201ctarnished\u201d by what he described as illegal detentions.<\/p>\n

Judge Irene Berger, an Obama appointee, accused the administration of showing a \u201clack of respect for the law,\u201d noting that arrests continued at a rapid clip despite multiple rulings declaring the practices unlawful.<\/p>\n

Berger\u2019s opinions have been particularly pointed. She pointed out \u201csloppiness\u201d so bad it makes you wonder what else is messing up. Like when the government accused one ICE detainee of having marijuana possession convictions from 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Petitioner was four years old in 2009,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Berger and Judge Thomas Johnston, a George W. Bush appointee, have separately called out the bond process as a sham, and noted ordering more sham hearings isn\u2019t a remedy. Gone are \u201cimmigration judges who provide neutral adjudications\u201d replaced with bond that is \u201csystematically denied after a pro forma hearing with a predetermined outcome.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Johnston, for his part, distilled the stakes in stark terms:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the government may simply seize someone without due process, there is no check on its ability to seize anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then he delivered the line that cuts through the usual culture-war framing:<\/p>\n

\u201cOne might say, \u2018I don\u2019t care because that only happens to THOSE people.\u2019 Perhaps. But what if someone here legally, or even a United States citizen, is afforded no due process after being seized by mistake? Or by a choice?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFortunately,\u201d he concluded, \u201cour Constitution demands more, including the rule of law, as opposed to the rule of unchecked executive fiat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Johnston is right about the constitutional demands, but\u2026 is anyone in MAGAland listening? Like Judge Goodwin said, \u201cThe problem lies in the attorneys\u2019 clients, federal government actors, who have offered no evidence that they have seen or even care about the legal rulings of this district.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe disregard for the law shames every hardworking public servant who toils for the benefit of the country and its people.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the only comment the government has made is red-hatted ragebait that\u2019s wildly out-of-touch with what the judges are seeing on the ground, saying he Justice Department \u201cis focused on law and order, public safety, and will not tolerate any violence directed toward law enforcement officials working tirelessly to keep Americans safe, despite the best efforts of activist judges who\u2019d rather see violent illegal criminals walk free.\u201d <\/p>\n

Because in 2026 judicial due process concerns are synonymous with activist judges.<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon @[email\u00a0protected].<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Down in the Southern District of West Virginia, four federal judges \u2014 appointed by presidents of both parties \u2014 have spent the last several weeks issuing rulings sounding the alarm over a MAGA immigration initiative dubbed \u201cOperation Country Roads.\u201d The policy, a partnership between federal and local law enforcement, reportedly netted roughly 650 arrests in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":145190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-NJmMdC.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}