Judges blast ICE for violating court orders in Minnesota, threaten contempt

MINNEAPOLIS (CN) — Two federal judges in Minnesota issued a pair of stinging rebukes of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Justice Department officials Thursday for continued violation of court orders — with one judge ordering officials to appear in court next week.

Together, the two judges documented over 200 instances where the government ignored court-ordered deadlines, forcing a move past mere administrative warnings to personal summons for top prosecutors and high-ranking immigration officers.

In a short, yet heated order, U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz threatened the use of criminal contempt if ICE does not cease its ongoing violations — ending the ruling saying that “one way or another, ICE will comply with this court’s orders.”

“The court is not aware of another occasion in the history of the United States in which a federal court has had to threaten contempt again and again and again to force the United States government to comply with court orders,” the George W. Bush appointee said in the ruling.

The judicial pressure against ICE doubled when U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan issued a second order Thursday — stemming from a separate case — scheduling a formal contempt hearing for U.S. attorneys and ICE officials on March 3 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

While Schiltz’s ruling stems from immigration officials’ failure to hold bond hearings or follow court release orders, Bryan’s order targets the government’s refusal to return cash, cellphones, passports and other personal items seized from detainees during the federal immigration enforcement surge.

Bryan noted the government missed a Wednesday deadline to return property in at least 26 cases and described the administration’s legal responses as “incomplete and evasive,” noting the government has “no lawful claim” to the property of released individuals.

The Joe Biden appointee said if the federal government is able to comply with the order to return property before the March 3 hearing date, then he would consider canceling it. Otherwise, the Trump administration will have to prove why it didn’t follow his initial order.

Schiltz’s ruling follows an initial habeas corpus petition where immigration officials failed to release a wrongfully detained man until threatened with the contempt of acting ICE director Todd Lyons on Jan. 26.

Attached to that order was a list of 96 violations where ICE failed to comply with release dates, which Schiltz updated Thursday to include 113 additional violations “above and beyond” the original count.

“The judges of this district have been extraordinarily patient with the government attorneys, recognizing that they have been put in an impossible position,” Schiltz said in Thursday’s order, noting the Justice Department’s actions have led to many federal attorneys resigning.

That patience, however, did not extend to the office’s leadership.

Schiltz took particular aim at U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen, who previously emailed the court claiming the data Schiltz used was “beyond the pale of accuracy” — adding that the Justice Department would “redouble our efforts” to achieve compliance.

Scoffing at the idea that any improvement has been made, Schiltz pointed out the overwhelming amounts of continued violations and noted that the actual issue is the administration’s decision to deploy 3,000 ICE agents to Minnesota without the legal infrastructure to handle the hundreds of resulting lawsuits.

“If anything is ‘beyond the pale,’ it is ICE’s continued violation of the orders of this court,” Schiltz said in the order, adding that the court has had to continuously resort to using the threat of contempt to force ICE to comply.

Bryan’s order brings the matter to a head, commanding Rosen, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Fuller and an ICE representative to appear in person next week to show why they should not be held in civil or criminal contempt.

“The court cannot ignore respondents’ unlawful conduct,” Bryan said in his ruling.

The two rulings are the latest escalation in an increasingly tense clash between Minnesota federal courts and the Trump administration as it seeks to further President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda and carry out mass deportations.

Judges across Minnesota have ruled over and over that the government has failed to comply with court orders by delaying the release of illegally detained individuals, withholding possessions and releasing individuals in the freezing winter miles away from support.

In addition to the mountain of habeas corpus petitions, the Trump administration is also facing lawsuits detailing unconstitutional violation of detainee rights — both legally and spiritually — and claims of warrantless arrests, racial profiling and excessive force by ICE agents.