Slate News Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts - The Concentration Camp Next Door
9 snips
Feb 14, 2026 
Andrea Pitzer, journalist and historian of concentration camps, and Linus Chan, law professor and detainee-rights attorney, join to unpack mass detention. They discuss the warehouse conversion of facilities, legal tweaks that hollow habeas corpus, rapid transfers that hide detainees, and local tactics to block and document expanding detention networks.
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Statutes Shrunk Court Oversight
- The Real ID Act and later rules limited judicial review of removal orders, shrinking court oversight.
- Chan explains detainees can still challenge unlawful detention, but legal doctrines now block many avenues.
District Orders Treated As Optional
- The administration treats district court orders as nonbinding, enabling continued practices despite rulings.
- Chan describes cascading chaos as courts, immigration judges, and the DOJ clash over authority.
Transfers Exploit Forum Shopping
- Circuit splits create incentives to move detainees to favorable districts to avoid relief.
- Chan notes transfers to Texas aim to place detainees under the Fifth Circuit's restrictive rulings.
