President Donald Trump’s administration is calling on a California judge to recuse herself from an immigration lawsuit due to a conflict of interest.
Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin previously served as the managing attorney for the plaintiff, Community Legal Services, according to a report by The Washington Free Beacon.
Olguin, who is now a federal judge in San Francisco, ruled that the Trump administration should restore funding to the tune of $769 million for a federal program that provided legal services for illegal immigrants.
The Biden administration appointee was previously the lead attorney for the case plaintiffs.
The administration asserts that her past work for the plaintiff in the case is “concerning conflicts of interest that has created a serious appearance of impropriety.”
In addition to her actual affiliation with the group with which she ruled, Olguin also has a history of harsh opinions for Trump over his immigration policies.
The judge previously worked as an attorney for the nonprofit law firm in question.
As part of her day-to-day responsibilities, she represented many of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) cited those facts when calling on Olguin to recuse herself from the case that it would appear she has a strong vested interest in.
The DOJ is urging the judge to dissolve her ruling demanding that the Trump administration fund her former employers.
“A reasonable person would likely question Judge Martínez-Olguín’s impartiality, and accordingly, recusal is required,” wrote Department of Justice attorneys.
Olguin co-founded the Immigrants’ Rights Project at CLSEPA in 2017 and worked there until 2018.
During that time, she “identified issues for local or state policy advocacy and impact litigation.”
While at CLSEPA, Martinez-Olguin advocated for a taxpayer-funded program to offer legal assistance to undocumented immigrants with San Mateo County officials.
CLSEPA is one of 11 subcontractors who brought suit against the Trump administration, asking that funding be restored for the legal services that CLSEPA and others offer to minors found at the border without guardians.
Before she was confirmed in 2023, Olguin also worked for the National Immigration Law Center, representing plaintiffs in similar cases.
In its court filings, CLSEPA said federal money “is one of our primary sources of funding for our immigration work.”
It makes up 15 % of the organization’s immigration cases budget.
Should the government funding be upheld, “CLSEPA will need to find another source of funding to continue representing our clients,” CLSEPA attorney Martha Ruch said in last month’s court filing.
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