Judge in Minnesota orders ICE chief to appear in court, warns of possible contempt proceedings

Washington — The chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Minnesota ordered the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear in his courtroom in-person on Friday and explain why he should not be held in contempt of court for violating an earlier order.

Judge Patrick Schiltz wrote in a brief three-page order that the Trump administration has failed to comply with “dozens” of court orders in recent weeks, which has resulted in “significant hardship” to immigrants who have been arrested and detained as part of Operation Metro Surge.

Schiltz wrote that he has been “extremely patient” with administration officials, even though they sent thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally “without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result.”

“The court’s patience is at an end,” he wrote.

Schiltz, appointed by President George W. Bush, ordered Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, to appear “personally” before the court and “show cause why he should not be held in contempt of court.” CBS News has reached out to ICE for comment on the judge’s action.

“The court acknowledges that ordering the head of a federal agency to personally appear is an extraordinary step, but the extent of ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary, and lesser measures have tried and failed,” the judge wrote.

Schiltz’s order came in a case involving an Ecuadorian man, Juan Hugo Tobay Robles, who came to the U.S. illegally in 1999 when he was a minor. He was detained earlier this month and placed in immigration custody at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, according to court filings.

Tobay Robles challenged his detention in federal district court, and Schiltz issued an order last week requiring federal immigration authorities to either provide him with a bond hearing within seven days or immediately release him from custody if a hearing was not provided.

Tobay Robles’ lawyers informed the court on Friday that his client had not received a bond hearing and was still in immigration custody.

Schiltz wrote in his latest order that Lyons would not be required to appear if Tobay Robles’ lawyers and the administration filed papers indicating that the Ecuadorian man had been released from custody.

The Trump administration’s enforcement operations in the Twin Cities have left the federal court there inundated with petitions from immigrants challenging their detentions and seeking release. A judge in Minnesota is separately considering a bid by state officials to altogether bring an end to Operation Metro Surge.

Schiltz himself tangled with the Trump administration last week after the Justice Department asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit to order the lower court to sign arrest warrants for five people in connection with an anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul earlier this month. A unanimous panel of three judges on the 8th Circuit declined the administration’s request.

Three people have been charged in connection with the demonstration, but a U.S. magistrate judge declined to issue arrest warrants for the five others, which included former CNN anchor Don Lemon.

The Justice Department sought review of the magistrate judge’s finding and then turned to the 8th Circuit after Schiltz, who was assigned the matter, did not move quickly enough. 

In a letter to the 8th Circuit, Schiltz said the Trump administration’s efforts were “unprecedented” and said “there is absolutely no emergency.”