A US federal judge in Minnesota has ordered the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to appear in court this week, warning he could be held in contempt over the agency’s failure to comply with multiple court orders.
In a sharply worded filing late Monday, Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz said acting ICE director Todd Lyons must personally explain why the agency missed a deadline to provide a detainee with a bond hearing. The judge said Lyons must show cause on Friday as to why he should not be held in contempt.
“This court has been extremely patient with respondents, even though respondents decided to send thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain aliens without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result,” Schiltz wrote. “The court’s patience is at an end.”
The judge said the hearing would be canceled if the detainee is released before then.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Schiltz, who was appointed by former Republican President George W. Bush, sits on the federal bench in Minneapolis.
The order comes amid mounting criticism of ICE’s tactics during President Donald Trump’s intensified immigration enforcement push. Protests have erupted in Minneapolis following the fatal shootings of two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed in separate encounters with federal immigration agents earlier this month.
Demonstrators and civil rights advocates have accused ICE of aggressive enforcement methods and of overwhelming local courts by failing to follow basic procedural requirements during the crackdown.
