DHS General Counsel Percival publicly branded four federal judges 'Worst of the Worst' over immigration rulings

On July 23, 2026, DHS General Counsel James Percival began a "Worst of the Worst, District Judges Edition" series of posts on the social media platform X, naming four federal district judges — in Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, and California — over rulings that blocked or slowed the Trump administration's immigration agenda. Percival wrote that the judges were "engaged in mutiny against the Supreme Court. It must stop!" and accused them of entering orders "in bad faith, knowing they will be reversed, solely to run out the clock." He targeted judges in Illinois and Massachusetts who had temporarily preserved deportation protections for immigrants from Burma and Somalia, the Maryland judge who oversaw litigation over the removal of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and a California judge handling litigation over DHS's response to immigration protests.

The posts followed an earlier repost on July 17 in which Percival described "partisan district judges" entering bad-faith orders, and came amid a documented rise in threats against the federal judiciary. Some of Percival's social-media followers responded to the posts with calls for the named judges to be arrested "or worse."

The International Academy of Trial Lawyers, a fellowship of trial lawyers dedicated to the rule of law, formally condemned the statements as "dangerous and irresponsible," saying they went "beyond legitimate criticism of judicial rulings to disparage judges personally and target them for intimidation," and called on Percival to withdraw the statements. Retired federal judge Philip Pro separately called the posts "terribly disappointing" and warned that singling out judges by name on social media invites amplified threats. A DHS spokesperson defended the posts as "nothing more than a factual review of judicial decisions and their real-world consequences," saying "facts aren't attacks."

Percival told Fox News Digital the campaign was meant to educate the public, not intimidate judges, and that it targeted a small number of judges he described as repeat "forum shopping" targets rather than the judiciary as a whole.

Updates

2026-07-30 — Percival doubled down, calling judges' rulings "naked politics" [5][6]

In a video posted to DHS's official X account on July 30, 2026, Percival said the judges named in his "Worst of the Worst" posts were "engaging in naked politics" and "shrouding it in the thin veneer of legalese," rejecting calls to reconsider. "If we respond to that by saying, 'oh wow that's interesting, let's analyze their legal position,' we are legitimizing something that is not legitimate," he said. A DHS spokesperson separately defended the posts as "accurately describing a judge's rulings," adding that "facts aren't attacks."

2026-07-31 — Judges Salas and Bloom publicly urged Percival to remove the posts [5][6]

During a July 31, 2026 virtual briefing co-hosted by Legal AF and Speak Up for Justice, U.S. District Judge Esther Salas of New Jersey — whose son was killed in a 2020 attack by a disgruntled litigant posing as a delivery man — said, "I just ask our political leaders to tone it down. Criticize us on the merits, appeal us, but stop villainizing and demonizing my colleagues please." U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom of the Southern District of Florida called the posts an "intimidation tactic" that should be removed, comparing the series to a "Wanted" sign of federal judges previously displayed outside a Republican lawmaker's Capitol Hill office. "These are unjustified attacks that are designed for one purpose and one purpose only," Bloom said, "and that is to bring others to do harm."

2026-08-19 — 128 retired judges filed a Florida Bar ethics complaint against Percival over the posts [7, 8]

128 bipartisan former state and federal judges, led by former Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Peggy Quince, joined Democracy Defenders Fund and Lawyers Defending American Democracy to file an ethics complaint with the Florida Bar against Percival. The complaint alleged his "Worst of the Worst" posts violated professional conduct rules barring attorneys from impugning the integrity of judges, calling the posts "serious professional misconduct" that "threaten the rule of law and increase the risk of violence against judges," and asked the Florida Bar to investigate and take disciplinary action. A DHS spokesperson defended the posts as factual commentary.