The Brief Federal judges ruled the government must pay legal fees for immigrants wrongfully detained during Operation Metro Surge. Legal costs mounting after court rulings on wrongful ICE detentionsThe federal government must pay legal fees for immigrants wrongfully detained by ICE during Operation Metro Surge after federal judges ruled the detentions violated constitutional rights. Federal judges found that more than a dozen ICE arrests were not "substantially justified" and constituted "unreasonable" governmental conduct. Since Operation Metro Surge ended earlier this year, judges have ordered the government to cover more than $106,000 in combined attorney’s fees. DHS did not comment on the attorneys fees it must now pay for wrongfully detaining immigrants.