An internal Department of Justice (DOJ) review led by Jordan Fox, associate deputy attorney general and chief of staff in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, found that federal authorities violated more than 50 immigration-related orders from federal judges in New Jersey over a 10-week period.
The review, ordered by U.S. District Judge Michael Farbiarz, who was appointed by former President Joseph Biden, identified 52 confirmed violations and four possible instances of noncompliance between Dec. 5, 2025, and Feb. 12, 2026.
The investigation was prompted after Farbiarz discovered that the DOJ had violated one of his orders by transferring petitioner Baljinder Kumar out of New Jersey.
Fox, a Seton Hall Law alumna and candidate for New Jersey District Attorney, led the investigation, uncovering a pattern of unlawful detainee transfers, missed court deadlines and delayed releases from federal custody. In one case, a detainee was mistakenly deported to Peru despite a judicial injunction prohibiting his removal — a mistake Fox attributed to an "inadvertent administrative oversight by the local ICE custodian.”
In an 11-page declaration filed on Feb.13, Fox characterized the violations as accidental. She acknowledged 17 cases in which detainees were transferred despite court orders barring their movement, stating the transfers took place "inadvertently due to logistical delays in communicating the court order.”
Fox reported that most detainees transferred in violation of a judge’s orders have been returned to New Jersey.
“We regret deeply all violations for which our Office is responsible,” Fox wrote in a Feb. 13 letter to Fabriarz. “Those violations were unintentional and immediately rectified once we learned of them.”
Fabriarz praised Fox for her “careful” and “thorough” declaration in a Feb. 17 order, but said the government's compliance “falls below the relevant standards.”
Fabriarz ordered the government to submit an affidavit outlining steps to “ensure 100% compliance with judicial orders,” and suggested the government commit to halting detainee transfers once a habeas petition is filed until after “the Court has had a chance to weigh in.”
The District of New Jersey, one of 94 federal judicial districts, has emerged as a hub for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention and transportation operations, particularly for detainees from the surrounding area, including New York City, which does not have any long-term detention facilities.
Most ICE detainees in New Jersey are held at privately-run detention facilities in Newark and Elizabeth, according to The New York Times. On Feb. 20, the DOJ purchaseda warehouse in Morris County, and officials confirmed the facility in Roxbury will be repurposed as an immigration processing center.
Megan Pitt is the head editor of The Setonian’s News section. She can be reached at megan.pitt@student.shu.edu.
