Today, Explained · Vox

How deportation broke the courts

February 12, 2026·26 min·2 clips
A conservative court just greenlit Trump's mass detention policy, reinterpreting old laws to lock up thousands.
This episode investigates the Trump administration's mass detention and deportation policies, focusing on a Fifth Circuit Court ruling that allows indefinite detention of immigrants. It also explores the crisis in the Department of Justice, where lawyers are quitting due to overwhelming workloads and the administration's failure to comply with court orders.

As heard by us

A brisk, uneasy look at immigration enforcement and the lawyers buckling under it.

This episode follows DOJ lawyers handling immigration cases for the Trump administration as they describe a punishing workload and start to quit, with one Minnesota lawyer standing out after telling a judge the job has become miserable.

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Why you'd press play

When immigration courts start buckling, this is a sharp way to feel the strain.

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