'Close this case': Exasperated judge hammers Trump admin's 'cynicism' and 'complete inability to follow judicial directions,' orders man's release as 'only remedy'

Main: President Donald Trump speaks before signing a proclamation about the fishing industry, in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, June 11, 2026, in Washington (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin). Left inset: U.S. District Judge Kyle Dudek, pictured on June 25, 2025, during nomination hearings (Senate Judiciary Committee).

A federal judge in Florida who has already called out the Trump administration multiple times for its failures in court has ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to immediately release a man from detention as a consequence of the government's "complete inability to follow judicial directions."

U.S. District Judge Kyle Dudek's latest rebuke of the administration came Thursday, when he granted the habeas corpus petition of Dmitrii Iastrebov and ordered his "immediate release" from detention after the government engaged in "a masterclass in litigation cynicism."

"Last month, this Court ordered the Government to provide him with an individualized bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a). This was after the Government conceded he was entitled to such relief. What happened next borders on the surreal," Dudek explained. "Five days later, an immigration judge refused to hold the ordered hearing, claiming Iastrebov is not covered by § 1226(a) and thus ineligible for bond. Instead of defending this Court's mandate, the Government's counsel acquiesced in that refusal and waived any administrative appeal."

"Now, faced with a renewed habeas petition, the Government casually announces that its previous concession 'was in error' and asks this Court to reverse itself and hold that Iastrebov is instead subject to mandatory detention under 8 U.S.C. § 1225," the judge continued, calling that "request for a do-over" legally groundless.

More Law&Crime coverage: ICE must 'immediately' release immigrant who was detained after calling 911 to help save someone else's life, judge says

The exasperated judge then dressed down the government for treating the federal courts like a "testing lab" for its ever-evolving procedural gamesmanship.

"A federal court is not a testing lab where the Executive branch can pilot a concession to get a case closed, stand by silently while its own administrative process flouts the resulting mandate, and then stroll back in demanding a clean slate. Give me a break," Dudek said. "Why Iastrebov is legally entitled to a bond hearing is a question this Court has already answered in painstaking detail—an explanation that should not have required a sequel."

"And because the Government has shown that it cannot follow this Court's explicit directions and offers zero assurance that it will comply with the statutory process it previously championed, Iastrebov will be immediately released," the judge said, calling that the "only remedy that 'law and justice require[.]'"

"The Clerk is directed to terminate any pending motions and deadlines, enter judgment, and close this case," the order concluded.