DOJ Seeks to Disqualify 2 Minnesota Judges Over Trump Immigration Criticism

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 22

Separate DOJ motions ask Judges Patrick Schiltz and John Tunheim to recuse themselves from immigration-related cases after they criticized Trump’s Operation Metro Surge in a New York Times interview.
The department says their on-the-record remarks and Schiltz’s later public comments create doubts about impartiality, arguing judges who publicly take sides on immigration enforcement should not hear related cases.
Schiltz is overseeing a bid to strip citizenship from a Somali-born man who pleaded guilty in 2009 to supporting al-Shabaab, while Tunheim is handling a case against a South African national accused of false citizenship claims and illegal voting.
The recusal push follows a misconduct complaint filed last month against Schiltz, Tunheim and other Minnesota judges after reports they coordinated on a surge of immigration cases through meetings, email threads and an informal spreadsheet.
If either judge refuses to step aside, the government could ask the Eighth Circuit to review whether the legal standard for recusal has been met.