ICE blasted by Minneapolis judge for violating 96 orders

ICE agents leave a residence in Minneapolis on Jan. 28. Photographer: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

• Judge rebukes ICE for defying court orders nearly 100 times in Minnesota
• ICE's actions caused hardship for detained, some lawfully living, immigrants.
• Minnesota seeks to halt Operation Metro Surge amid protests and legal challenges

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A federal judge in Minnesota sharply criticized US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for violating court orders almost 100 times in 74 cases brought by immigrants so far this year, while saying the actual number is “almost certainly” far higher.

“ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence,” Chief US District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said in a court order Wednesday in Minneapolis.

The judge issued the finding in one of dozens of lawsuits filed by individuals seeking to be released from detention amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants in Minnesota. Operation Metro Surge, as its known, has led to thousands of arrests and protests across the nation following the shooting deaths of two US citizens by federal agents.

The criticism also comes just as the Trump administration faces a separate challenge by Minnesota’s attorney general, who seeks to bring Operation Metro Surge to an end, as well as a separate suit by protesters seeking to restrict ICE’s aggressive crowd-control tactics. In both cases, federal immigration officials have been accused of widespread violations of Constitutional protections.

Schiltz said ICE failed to meet a court-ordered deadline earlier this month in a case brought by an immigrant identified only as Juan T.R. The judge had ordered ICE to either hold a bond hearing for the man or release him.

When ICE missed the deadline, Schiltz scheduled a contempt-of-court hearing for Friday and ordered ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons to testify. The judge said ICE’s violations of court orders had caused “significant hardship” to numerous detained aliens, “many of whom have lawfully lived and worked in the United States for years and done absolutely nothing wrong.”

“This court has been extremely patient with respondents, even though respondents decided to send thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain aliens without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result,” Schiltz said in a Jan. 26 order for Lyons to testify.

Only then did ICE release Juan T.R., the judge said in Wednesday’s order, resulting in the contempt hearing being called off.

The Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Schiltz blasted ICE’s overall conduct in the case and many other lawsuits, saying its failure to meet court orders “should give pause to anyone — no matter his or her political beliefs — who cares about the rule of law.”

“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 judge said.

Other litigation

Schiltz’s order came as one of his colleagues on the Minnesota federal bench, US District Judge Katherine Menendez, weighs the state’s request to at least temporarily halt Operation Metro Surge and remove agents from the streets. Menendez heard arguments earlier in the week and hasn’t said when she intends to rule.

On Wednesday evening, the Justice Department filed a written brief with Menendez denying allegations that the operation was designed to unlawfully coerce Democratic state and local officials to cooperate with the administration on immigration enforcement.

The administration denied the state’s claim that a Jan. 24 letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz asking the state to repeal so-called “sanctuary” policies and turn over records on public benefits programs and voter registrations was an attempt at extracting a “quid pro quo” deal amid the state’s effort to end the federal surge.

The US also also urged the judge to not give weight to a Jan. 13 social media post by Trump in which he wrote, “FEAR NOT, GREAT PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA, THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!” The department wrote that “such a singular statement is of little relevance” and that the “unclear reference” to the word “retribution” didn’t justify ending the operation.

The Justice Department and Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment about the filing.

On Thursday, a coalition of 22 Democratic state attorneys general sent a letter to Bondi protesting her message to Walz. They wrote that the federal government’s immigration enforcement power “cannot extend to commandeering state governments, coercing the repeal of lawful, duly enacted state policies, or demanding broad access to sensitive records based on unsupported assertions.”