ICE violated at least 96 court orders in January
ICE leader faces contempt threat over compliance
A judge in Minnesota is demanding answers from ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons over failed hearings for detained immigrants, ordering him to appear in court on Friday to explain why he should not be held in contempt as the Trump administration has not complied with court orders for several immigrant bond hearings even after multiple warnings.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minnesota's federal chief judge will not require the nation's top ICE official to testify in court this week, but he chastised the agency for violating more court orders this month "than other agencies have violated in their entire existence."
ICE compliance issues in Minnesota
What we know:
ICE violated at least 96 court orders in 74 cases in January, and that is likely a substantial undercount, according to U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz.
"This list should give pause to anyone—no matter his or her political beliefs—who cares about the rule of law," Schiltz said in an order Wednesday.
Schiltz will not require ICE’s acting director, Todd Lyons, to come to Minnesota this week to answer potential contempt charges.
However, he did not rule out the possibility of requiring top government officials to testify under oath if violations continue.
ICE is not a law unto itself
What they're saying:
"ICE is not a law unto itself," Schiltz 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."
The FOX 9 Investigators revealed earlier this week that the Trump Administration had violated dozens of court orders related to habeas petitions from impacted immigrants swept up during federal immigration enforcement operations.
The petitions are challenging arrests and detentions during Operation Metro Surge and are being filed at an unprecedented pace in Minnesota’s federal district courts.
Federal judges have been losing patience with the agency that quickly moves detainees to detention centers out of state but fails to return them to Minnesota by court-ordered deadlines.
The U.S. Attorney's office revealed in another court hearing this week that it is now taking ICE four days to return a detainee to Minnesota.
Schiltz gave the agency until Friday this week to release a man from Ecuador who had been detained without a bond hearing in violation of a court order.
ICE released the immigrant from a Texas detention center the next day.
Nearly 500 habeas petitions already this year
By the numbers:
DHS has said federal agents have arrested more than 3,000 illegal immigrants during Operation Metro Surge, a number that cannot be independently verified.
The FOX 9 Investigators reported there have already been 500 habeas filings this year, on pace to more than double the number from all of 2025.
The U.S. Attorney’s office is now acknowledging it cannot keep up with the flood of casework from the ongoing immigration operation.
"The Civil division does not have the resources to handle this right now," veteran assistant U.S. Attorney Friedrich Siekert said in court this week.
In most habeas cases, detained immigrants are winning favorable rulings from federal judges – either their outright release from custody or requiring that they be afforded bond hearings in Immigration court where they can argue for their release while fighting to remain in this country.
Children at center of ICE violations
Why you should care:
But even when detainees have won in court, ICE has repeatedly failed to follow the court order.
ICE failed to immediately reunite a Venezuelan family in Minnesota this week after a judge found they were wrongfully detained at gunpoint —without a warrant—in their own home.
In another case, ICE quickly transferred a 2-year-old girl and her father to a detention center in Texas after a judge ordered their immediate release.
The Department of Homeland Security returned them to Minnesota the next day so the toddler could be re-united with her mother.
DHS responds
What they're saying:
In a statement to FOX 9, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin writes:
"If DHS’s behavior was so vile, why dismiss the order to appear? Despite the diatribe from this activist judge, the only order involved with this case issued yesterday was that Acting Director Lyons was no longer ordered to appear to testify in court. DHS will continue to enforce the laws of the United States within all applicable constitutional guidelines. We will not be deterred by activists either in the streets or on the bench."