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A federal judge on Wednesday vacated an immigration court ruling giving the Trump administration broad powers to detain migrants, forcing them to give bond hearings and then possibly release thousands in custody.

The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Sunshine Sykes excoriated the Trump administration’s claims that it is targeting the worst of the worst for deportation.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are at times relying on shaky legal ground to detain migrants, wrote Sykes, an appointee of former President Biden, and migrants are therefore entitled to a bond hearing to determine whether they may pursue their immigration case outside of ICE detention.

“‘Worst of the worst’ is an inaccurate description of most of those affected by DHS and ICE’s operations. Perhaps in utilizing this extreme language DHS seeks to justify the magnitude and scope of its operations against non-criminal noncitizens. Maybe that phrase merely mirrors the severity and ill-natured conduct by the Government. Even though these press releases might contain an inkling of truth, they ignore a greater, more dire reality,” she wrote.

“It is not the ‘worst of the worst’ that are swept into the nationwide and reckless violations of the law by the executive branch,” she said, pointing to the case of Liam Conejo Ramos, who was detained “without a valid warrant” with his father.

The decision comes after Sykes determined in December the wide-ranging detention program was illegal but determined those being held merited greater relief from the court.

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