Mullin Exposes Biden’s Activist Judges Days After a Court Gutted Spanberger’s Sanctuary State

Abigail Spanberger cut Virginia's ties with ICE within weeks of taking office.

A federal judge tore her sanctuary order right back apart less than two weeks ago.

Now Trump's own homeland security chief says the judges still blocking him prove something much bigger is going on in America's courts.

Mullin Calls Out Biden's Activist Judges By Name

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sat down with Fox News Digital at the RNC Midterm Convention this week.

He didn't sugarcoat it.

Judges appointed under Obama are difficult enough, Mullin said.

Judges appointed by Biden are a different animal entirely.

Mullin said Biden-appointed judges are "almost impossible" to work with as immigration enforcement battles intensify.

Two rulings this year prove exactly what he means.

Boardman's Birthright Citizenship Rulings Reveal A Clear Pattern

In April, a Biden appointee named Brian Murphy stopped the administration from cutting off temporary protected status for more than 5,000 Ethiopian nationals.

Then in September, Judge Deborah Boardman did it again on a completely different front.

She blocked Trump's newest order narrowing birthright citizenship for the children of terrorists and foreign government employees, calling it "almost certainly unconstitutional."

This wasn't Boardman's first swing at this exact fight.

She'd already blocked Trump's original birthright citizenship order the year before, before the Supreme Court even ruled on the underlying question.

One judge, two rulings, same target, same result.

That is precisely the pattern Mullin was describing.

Nationwide Injunctions Are Exactly What Legal Scholars Warned About

Democrats built their whole legal strategy on one trick, find the single judge in America most likely to say yes.

Even Justice Elena Kagan, no friend of this administration, has called that trick out.

One district judge should never be able to freeze a policy nationwide for years, she's said, while an appeal crawls along at its own pace.

Justice Samuel Alito didn't bother being diplomatic about a separate nationwide order against the administration, calling it "an act of judicial hubris."

Here's the scam in plain numbers, from a Notre Dame law professor no less, the government can win 99 lawsuits and lose everything anyway because one judge somewhere said no.

That's not a check on power, that's a rigged game, and Boardman just played her hand again.

Virginia's Sanctuary State Order Just Got Struck Down Too

Democrats don't want you to notice this part.

Governor Spanberger started unwinding Virginia's cooperation with ICE her first day in office, and within weeks her administration had formally pulled the state's 287(g) agreements, cutting state police off from ICE entirely.

Here's what that looks like on the ground.

An 18-year-old illegal immigrant enrolled at Fairfax High School was accused of groping roughly a dozen girls in the hallways, and he wasn't arrested until the story went viral and parents demanded action.

He was convicted on nine counts of assault and battery.

ICE lodged a detainer against him after the arrest, and Fairfax County's sheriff didn't honor it.

He was released from custody on September 3, and it's still unclear whether that same high school will let him finish out his senior year there.

That's what "cutting off cooperation with ICE" means for the parents living it.

A federal judge blocked Spanberger's statewide sanctuary order too, ruling federal immigration authority isn't hers to override.

Funny how that works.

When a Biden judge blocks Trump, it gets called the rule of law.

When a judge blocks a Democrat governor's sanctuary order, the same crowd goes quiet.

DHS wasn't shy about it either, accusing Spanberger of "making her state less safe" the moment she cut ties with ICE.

Republicans' No Rogue Rulings Act Targets Activist Judges Directly

House Republicans already passed a bill to end this game for good.

The No Rogue Rulings Act would strip district judges of the power to issue nationwide injunctions and force them to rule only for the actual people in front of them.

Rep. Darrell Issa, the bill's author, didn't mince words about what's really going on, calling it "the Trump Resistance in Robes."

Mullin's comments this week weren't a complaint, they were a preview of the fight Republicans plan to win in Congress and at the Supreme Court.

Spanberger can talk all she wants about protecting Virginians, a federal court already told her the same rules apply to her that apply to Trump.

Sources:

• Ashley J. DiMella, "Obama, Biden judges draw fresh fire as Trump's immigration court clashes heat up: 'Almost impossible,'" Fox News, September 14, 2026.
• John Binder, "Biden-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump from Narrowing Birthright Citizenship," Breitbart, September 3, 2026.
• Breccan Thies, "Biden Judge Blocks Trump's Efforts To Curb Birthplace Citizenship," The Federalist, September 3, 2026.
• "Federal judge blocks Spanberger's sanctuary law as ICE arrests surge," Washington Examiner, early September 2026.
• "DHS Calls Out Sanctuary Governor Spanberger for Banning Work with ICE Law Enforcement," Department of Homeland Security, February 24, 2026.
• "As President Trump Faces an Unprecedented Number of Nationwide Injunctions, Senate Republicans Are Taking Action," Office of the Senate Republican Leader.
• "Ending Nationwide Injunctions," American Enterprise Institute.
• Rep. Darrell Issa, "House Passes Issa Legislation to Stop Activist Judges and Their Rogue Rulings," Office of Rep. Darrell Issa, April 10, 2025.