Judge rips into ICE but backs off demand for agency head to appear in court

The top federal judge in Minneapolis backed off a plan to haul the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement into court Friday, but delivered a brutal condemnation of the agency for repeatedly defying judges’ orders in cases stemming from the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz tore into the agency in a Wednesday order for what he characterized as a pattern of unprecedented defiance — violating dozens of court orders in ways that abused the rights of immigrants facing deportation proceedings.

“ICE is not a law unto itself,” Schiltz said in a four-page order.

Schiltz, a George W. Bush appointee, appended a list of nearly 100 court orders he said the immigration agency had violated in the past month solely involving immigrants detained in the Twin Cities area as part of Operation Metro Surge.

“This list should give pause to anyone — no matter his or her political beliefs — who cares about the rule of law,” the judge wrote. “ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”

Many of Schiltz’s colleagues on the federal bench in Minnesota have similarly vented about ICE’s recalcitrance in recent orders. Minutes after Schiltz’s order, one of his colleagues — Clinton appointee John Tunheim — backed an emergency effort to block ICE from targeting thousands of refugees residing lawfully in Minnesota but who are still awaiting permanent residency status. Tunheim ordered the Trump administration to release anyone detained on this basis and to return to Minnesota any who had been transported out of state.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Despite the judge’s fury, his order amounted to a reprieve of sorts for ICE’s acting director Todd Lyons, whom Schiltz had previously ordered to appear before him Friday to address potential contempt of court.

Schiltz’s initial order came in the case of an Ecuadorian man, Juan Tobay Robles, whose release from ICE detention the judge ordered earlier this month. Schiltz lit into the agency for violating the order after officials failed to release the man for days despite the court directive.

But on Wednesday, Robles’ attorney confirmed that his client had been released, mooting the need for Friday’s hearing. The attorney, Graham Ojala-Barbour, said despite the cancellation, he would welcome another opportunity to seek “accountability for ICE.”

“Many of my colleagues and the people we represent are also interested in accountability for ICE and knowing that we can still count on the rule of law in Minnesota,” he said.

While Schiltz scuttled the showdown he had lined up for Friday, the legal battles over federal immigration operations in Minnesota continue. Another federal judge in Minneapolis is considering a lawsuit the state and city governments filed seeking an end to the surge.

And a class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday contends that ICE is violating the constitutional rights of thousands of immigration detainees who’ve spent time in custody in the past few weeks at a makeshift detention center in a major federal building in Minneapolis.