# Courts Don’t Make Immigration Policy—Judge Berry Tried Anyway!

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unSsTB_eUHY
Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/unSsTB_eUHY
Generated: 2026-02-03T15:33:38.563+00:00

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## Quick Overview

Judge Fred Beery ruled that the government's pursuit of daily deportation quotas, even if it results in traumatizing children, is not unlawful, citing that the Constitution of the United States trumps the administration's detention of petitioner Adrian Conejo Arias and his minor son, and that administrative warrants issued by the executive branch do not require probable cause, effectively undermining the Fourth Amendment protections.

**Key Points:**
- Judge Fred Beery found that the government's pursuit of daily deportation quotas, even if it requires traumatizing children, is not unlawful.
- The judge asserted that the Constitution of the United States trumps the administration's detention of petitioner Adrian Conejo Arias and his minor son.
- The ruling references historical documents like the Declaration of Independence and Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England to support judicial restraint.
- The judge criticized the government's actions as 'ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented' pursuit of deportation quotas.
- The decision highlighted that administrative warrants issued by the executive branch do not require probable cause, which the judge called 'the fox guarding the henhouse.'
- The judge quoted Thomas Jefferson's grievances against King George III, including complaints about standing armies without consent and quartering troops.
- The ruling explicitly mentioned that the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures does not apply to administrative warrants lacking probable cause.

![Screenshot at 00:00: The judge's Opinion and Order of the Court is displayed, highlighting text criticizing the government's 'ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.'](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/unSsTB_eUHY/00-00-00.jpg)

**Context:** The video features a commentator, Andrew Branca, dissecting an Opinion and Order of the Court from a Federal District Judge named Fred Beery concerning the detention of asylum seeker Adrian Conejo Arias and his five-year-old son. The core context revolves around the judge's interpretation of immigration enforcement procedures, specifically questioning the legality of ICE actions and administrative warrants compared to constitutional protections like the Fourth Amendment and historical precedents like the Magna Carta and Declaration of Independence.

## Detailed Analysis

Andrew Branca analyzes a court order where Judge Fred Beery ruled that the government's actions regarding the detention of asylum seeker Adrian Conejo Arias and his five-year-old son were not unlawful, despite the potentially traumatizing effect on the child. The judge asserted that the Constitution of the United States supersedes the administration's detention methods. Branca points out that the judge based his ruling on historical context, citing the Great Writ of Habeas Corpus and William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, as well as grievances from the Declaration of Independence, suggesting the current government acts like an authoritarian king. Crucially, the judge found that administrative warrants issued by the executive branch do not need probable cause, calling this practice 'the fox guarding the henhouse' and emphasizing that this bypasses the Fourth Amendment's requirement for warrants based on probable cause. Branca argues that the judge is misapplying law and policy, suggesting the judge's interpretation is wrong, particularly regarding the Fourth Amendment protections which should apply to citizens and residents, even questioning if the judge considered the father's prior abandonment of the child or the fact that the father was illegally present.

### Opinion and Order of the Court

- Petition for Adrian Conejo Arias and son seeking protection of the Great Writ of Habeas Corpus
- Judge Beery finds government response adequate despite concerns over traumatizing children
- The case has genesis in ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas.

### Historical Context and Constitutional Ignorance

- Judge Beery cites Magna Carta (via Blackstone) and grievances from the Declaration of Independence against an authoritarian king's actions (swarms of officers, domestic insurrection, quartering troops).

### Fourth Amendment Analysis

- The judge notes the 'perilous' inconvenience of ignoring the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures without warrants based on probable cause.

### Civics Lesson to the Government

- Administrative warrants issued by the executive branch do not pass probable cause muster, which the judge calls 'fox guarding the henhouse' and notes the Constitution requires an independent judicial officer for warrants.

### The Ruling and Conclusion

- The Court finds the Constitution trumps the administration's detention; release from detention is GRANTED pursuant to the attached judgment; observing human behavior confirms the father's actions were 'perfidious' and 'bereft of human decency'; the rule of law is damned.

![Screenshot at 00:00: The judge's Opinion and Order of the Court is displayed, highlighting text criticizing the government's 'ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.'](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/unSsTB_eUHY/00-00-00.jpg)
![Screenshot at 00:09: The commentator highlights the section of the court document referencing the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence, such as quartering large bodies of armed troops.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/unSsTB_eUHY/00-00-09.jpg)
![Screenshot at 01:06: A screenshot of a tweet detailing the ICE arrest of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, claiming the father had no criminal record.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/unSsTB_eUHY/00-01-06.jpg)
![Screenshot at 02:51: A DHS photo of Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, the father, is displayed on a subsequent tweet, contrasted with earlier narratives.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/unSsTB_eUHY/00-02-51.jpg)
![Screenshot at 11:47: The video transitions to showing a slide of the Supreme Court case \*Abel v. United States\* \(1960\), which the judge used as precedent regarding administrative warrants.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/unSsTB_eUHY/00-11-47.jpg)
