The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington has told a federal judge that it does not have the staffing to respond to every immigration detention habeas petition now being filed in the district. The office said the volume of cases tied to immigration enforcement has become unmanageable, and that in some matters it may file no response at all — leaving judges to decide petitions without the government’s opposition.

The notice, attributed to Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Floyd and directed to U.S. District Judge David Estudillo, is a striking acknowledgement of the pressure that immigration-related emergency litigation is placing on federal court dockets.