DOJ Says Judge Can’t Hear Immigration Case Due to Legal Aid Past

The Trump administration is seeking the recusal of a judge presiding over a lawsuit contesting its order to end funding for lawyers of unaccompanied immigrant children.

The Justice Department’s motion, filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, says that Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín previously worked as a managing attorney for the lead plaintiff in the case, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, a California-based nonprofit.

There’s “an appearance of bias” toward the plaintiffs in the case, said a team of Justice Department lawyers representing the Departments of the Interior and Health and Human Services, ...