JUST IN: Minnesota judge orders acting director of ICE to appear in federal court and explain why he should not be held in contempt for violating court orders. Follow live updates:

Minnesota judge orders acting director of ICE to appear in federal court and explain why he should not be held in contempt for violating court orders.

Follow live updates:

Minnesota Federal Judge Orders Acting ICE Director to Appear in Court, Warns of Contempt

A federal judge in Minnesota has taken the rare step of ordering the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to appear in his courtroom and explain why he should not be held in contempt for failing to follow judicial orders.

In a sharply worded order issued late Monday, **Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz**, a George W. Bush appointee, demanded that **ICE’s acting director, Todd Lyons**, personally appear in federal court in Minneapolis this Friday to “show cause” why he should not be held in contempt of court. Schiltz said the agency had repeatedly failed to comply with court directives in immigration cases, including an order to provide a detained immigrant with a bond hearing within a set timeframe or release him.

Schiltz wrote that the court’s “patience is at an end,” saying ICE had ignored **dozens of orders** across multiple federal cases in Minnesota, causing “significant hardship” for immigrants who have been held in custody longer than judges permitted or moved to distant detention facilities contrary to court rulings.

The contempt threat stems from *Operation Metro Surge* — a major immigration enforcement initiative in the Twin Cities — which has generated a surge of habeas corpus petitions and civil rights lawsuits from detainees claiming unlawful detention. Federal courts have consistently found in favor of immigrants in many of these cases.

Federal law enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security have pushed back, with DHS officials labeling the judge’s actions as judicial overreach and defending ICE’s enforcement work. However, Schiltz’s order underscores increasing tension between the federal judiciary and the executive branch over how aggressive immigration operations are carried out and whether they adhere to constitutional protections such as due process.

Lawyers for detainees and civil rights advocates have welcomed the judge’s intervention as a necessary check on government power, while critics warn the dispute could deepen political and legal gridlock over immigration enforcement policy. Observers say having the acting head of a major federal agency summoned to explain alleged contempt of court is an unusual and consequential moment in the broader legal battle over U.S. immigration enforcement.