In another major gaffe with serious real-world consequences, a federal judge sharply rebuked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the agency submitted a document claiming that a man facing detention from West Virginia had a marijuana conviction in 2009, when he was just four years old.
The ruling, issued Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, by U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger, ordered the man’s release and criticized the government’s procedures for jeopardizing the liberty of people legally present in the United States. “The Respondents did attach a document to their Response purporting to show minor convictions for marijuana possession in 2009,” Judge Berger wrote.
