Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz of the District of Minnesota warned on Feb. 26 that he is prepared to pursue criminal contempt proceedings against federal officials if Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to disregard court mandates, declaring in a sharply worded order that "ICE will comply" with judicial directives.
The confrontation between the federal judiciary and the Department of Justice has intensified amid what Schiltz describes as a persistent pattern of missed deadlines and noncompliance in immigration detention cases tied to a broader enforcement effort known as Operation Metro Surge.
At the center of the dispute is the habeas petition Juan T.R. v. Noem et al, filed Jan. 8. Schiltz ordered the government to respond by Jan. 12. When no response arrived, he partially granted the writ and directed that Juan receive a bond hearing within seven days or be released. According to the court's findings, the government failed to meet those requirements, prompting a show cause order and a directive that Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, personally appear unless the parties stipulated to Juan's release.
After such a stipulation was filed, Schiltz canceled the hearing on Jan. 28. But in his Feb. 26 supplemental order, he expanded the focus well beyond that case.
Schiltz wrote that the court had initially identified 96 violated court orders across 74 cases in a January appendix. After reviewing the data again, he said the court found errors "that cut both ways" but ultimately concluded ICE violated 97 orders in 66 of those cases, stating the earlier findings were not "beyond the pale of accuracy."
The judge further alleged that ICE continued accumulating violations even after public scrutiny. In Appendix B of the new filing, Schiltz cited 113 additional court orders violated in 77 additional cases, many occurring after Jan. 28.
The Justice Department has pushed back. Schiltz recounted that U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen emailed him Feb. 9 asserting that the January order was "far beyond the pale of accuracy for an order that would be wielded so publicly and so sharply." Rosen added, "The lawyers in my civil division didn't deserve it."
Schiltz acknowledged the strain on line attorneys, previously praising Ana Voss and colleagues for "struggl[ing] mightily to ensure that respondents comply with court orders" despite limited resources. He wrote that government lawyers have been placed in an "impossible position," noting resignations, including Voss stepping down as civil chief.
Still, Schiltz rejected Rosen's assurance that prosecutors would "redouble our efforts to achieve compliance" and that those efforts had already "led to considerable improvement." In his order, Schiltz stated that the claim "appears to be untrue."
The judge also criticized what he characterized as operational imbalance, writing that "the Administration" deployed "3000 ICE agents to Minnesota to detain people without making any provision for handling the hundreds of lawsuits that were sure to follow." He added that the court remains "overwhelmed with the legal work created by Operation Metro Surge."
Politico reported that the Feb. 26 order follows a January filing in which Schiltz accused the Trump administration of defying more than 90 court orders in that month alone. Other Minnesota federal judges have reportedly signaled stricter enforcement measures, including civil contempt findings and hearings related to detainee transfers.
