The chief federal judge in Minnesota excoriated Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday, saying it had violated nearly 100 court orders stemming from its aggressive crackdown in the state and had disobeyed more judicial directives in January alone than “some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
The extraordinary broadside by the judge, Patrick J. Schiltz, came in a ruling in which he temporarily rescinded an order he had issued on Tuesday, summoning Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, to appear in front of him to explain why he should not be held in contempt for violating so many orders arising from the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration actions in Minnesota.
While Judge Schiltz, a conservative jurist appointed by President George W. Bush, let Mr. Lyons off the hook for the moment, he cautioned that he might change his mind and order him to appear again to answer questions if ICE continues to violate court orders.
“ICE is not a law unto itself,” the judge wrote. “ICE has every right to challenge the orders of this court, but, like any litigant, ICE must follow those orders unless and until they are overturned or vacated.”
Judge Schiltz attached to his ruling a list of 96 court orders from 74 different immigration cases that ICE has failed to follow since Jan. 1. He noted that his tally was “almost certainly substantially understated” because it had been “hurriedly compiled by extraordinarily busy judges.”
“This list should give pause to anyone — no matter his or her political beliefs — who cares about the rule of law,” Judge Schiltz added.
The federal courts in Minnesota have been deluged this month by legal cases filed by immigrants swept up in the administration’s dragnet. Some of the immigrants have sought to avoid being sent out of the state by federal agents, while others have complained they were wrongfully detained.
Judge Schiltz’s initial order demanding that Mr. Lyons appear in front of him on Friday arose in the case of Juan Hugo Tobay Robles, an Ecuadorean man who entered the United States illegally nearly 30 years ago and was taken into custody by immigration agents on Jan. 6. Judge Schiltz determined that ICE had detained Mr. Tobay Robles under an improper reading of federal law and two weeks ago instructed federal officials either to let him challenge his detention or release him.
After that failed to happen, the judge told Mr. Lyons to appear in front of him. But he provided a way out. He said that if Mr. Tobay Robles were quickly released, he would cancel the hearing with Mr. Lyons.
Mr. Tobay Robles was, in fact, released from ICE custody in Texas on Tuesday afternoon, his lawyer, Graham Ojala-Barbour, wrote in a letter to Judge Schiltz on Wednesday. But even though his client was free, Mr. Ojala-Barbour asked Judge Schiltz to hold a contempt proceeding with Mr. Lyons, saying the administration’s “failures to comply with this court’s orders” had led to “significant hardships” for the immigrants involved.
Alan Feuer covers extremism and political violence for The Times, focusing on the criminal cases involving the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and against former President Donald J. Trump.
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