The Administration Must Follow Court Orders

New York, New York – The New York County Lawyers Association’s (NYCLA) President, Ronald C. Minkoff, today issued this statement declaring that the Administration must faithfully follow all court orders that another court has not stayed or reversed.

I am quite disturbed that at a June 2, 2026 Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin refused to commit the DHS to following a court order directing the DHS to stop doing something that the court finds illegal and unconstitutional. Instead, Secretary Mullin repeatedly responded that the DHS will never break the Constitution or the law, but “we are going to enforce the laws that you guys passed and that we implement.” He also stated that, “[i]f we didn’t think courts were politicized than I could probably answer that,” and suggested that those judge’s orders are often reversed. 

In doing so, the Secretary was disregarding one of our most fundamental legal principles, and one which protects our constitutional rights, liberties, and freedoms. That principle is that it is the role of the courts, rather than of the DHS, to determine the law. It is the role of the DHS to enforce the law, including the Constitution, as determined by the courts. Unfortunately, the DHS has on numerous occasions violated court orders protecting such rights, liberties, and freedoms, as occurred again and again in Minneapolis and elsewhere.

Few ideas are as fundamental to the rule of law as is the principle that court orders must be obeyed. Disappointed parties do not have to agree with those orders, but they are expected to take their disagreement to a higher court in the form of an appeal. And until the order is stayed or overturned by the same or a higher court, the order must be obeyed. Indeed, the courts are armed with a number of sanctions and other devices to compel obedience to their orders.

In United States v. Peters, 9 U.S. 115, 136 (1809) (Marshall, C.J.), the Supreme Court stated that permitting officials freely to “annul the judgments of the courts of the United States” would not just “destroy the rights acquired under those judgments”; it would make “a solemn mockery” of “the constitution itself.” For more than 200 years since then, these principles have been at the core of the American concept of the rule of law. We urge the Administration, including the DHS, follow them.

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This statement has been issued by the President. It has not been reviewed by NYCLA‘s full Board of Directors and does not necessarily represent its views.