Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons must appear in court on Jan. 30 following an order of the chief federal judge in Minnesota for a contempt hearing over ICE's failure to comply with court orders.
U.S. District Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz of Minnesota said Lyons must appear in person Friday afternoon to show cause why he should not be held in contempt.
"The court acknowledges that ordering the head of a federal agency to personally appear is an extraordinary step, but the extent of ICE's violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary, and lesser measures have been tried and failed," Schiltz wrote.
In addition, the judge said he had been "extremely patient" with ICE despite the large deployment of agents in the state without the agency preparing for the legal challenges and lawsuits that an immigration operation of such magnitude could generate.
Before issuing the order, Schiltz said the court's patience was "at an end" and directed Lyons to appear in court.
As noted by the judge, summoning Lyons is a last resort after ICE repeatedly ignored court orders amid a surge of immigration cases tied to the administration's enforcement operation in Minnesota.
As reported by The New York Times, the judge's order stems from a case involving Juan Hugo Tobay Robles, an Ecuadoran national who entered the United States illegally nearly three decades ago and has remained in custody since being detained by immigration agents on Jan. 6.
A week after his arrest, Schiltz ordered ICE to allow Tobay Robles to challenge his detention at a hearing within a week or to release him. Schiltz found ICE was holding Tobay Robles under an improper reading of federal law, similar to hundreds of cases reaching the courts since President Donald Trump launched his crackdown on immigration.
"This is one of dozens of court orders with which respondents have failed to comply in recent weeks," Schiltz wrote. "The practical consequence of respondents' failure to comply has almost always been significant hardship to aliens (many of whom have lawfully lived and worked in the United States for years and done absolutely nothing wrong)."
While Schiltz's frustration with the administration was evident, he left Lyons a way to avoid the court appearance. The judge said he would cancel the hearing if ICE promptly released an immigrant he said had been wrongfully detained as the agency has failed to comply with the one-week release period originally stated by Schiltz.
"If, before the hearing, the parties file a stipulation indicating that petitioner has been released from custody, the Court will cancel the hearing and will not require Lyons to appear," Schiltz wrote.
The judge's statement generated a response from the White House, with Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accusing Schiltz of being "more concerned about politics than the safety of the Minnesotans."
"Does this judge really think Director Lyons should take time out of his day leading ICE?," McLaughlin said in a statement.
As noted by The New York Times, this marks Schiltz's second clash with the Trump administration in recent days.
On Jan. 23, he expressed exasperation over an extraordinary request from the Justice Department asking him to reverse another judge's decision and personally issue arrest warrants for journalist Don Lemon and four other people in connection with a protest at a church service in St. Paul earlier this month.
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