A Minnesota judge has taken the extraordinary step of ordering the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to face court and explain why his agency keeps ignoring court orders.
Declaring his "court's patience is at an end", Judge Patrick Schiltz said ICE acting director Todd Lyons must appear in person to give reasons why he should not be held in contempt.
"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," the judge wrote.
The case is playing out as the Trump administration responds to public backlash over mass-deportation operations in the Midwestern state, where two protesters have been killed by federal agents in separate recent incidents.
It also highlights an ongoing power struggle between the US courts and immigration authorities, which have been criticised by multiple judges for ignoring orders to afford due process to detained migrants.
The Trump administration frequently argues those judges are biased activists.
Mr Schiltz, who is Minnesota's chief federal judge, said ICE and the Department of Homeland Security had failed to comply with dozens of court orders in recent weeks.
His decision to order Mr Lyons to appear was prompted by ICE's refusal to follow a previous court order, issued on January 14, to either grant an immigration court hearing to an Ecuadorian detainee or release him.
"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."
The judge set a hearing for Friday, local time.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-28/minnesota-judge-orders-ice-head-to-face-c...
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Federal judge fed up with ICE breaking the law (Read 49 times)
