When Minnesota’s chief federal trial judge, Patrick Schiltz, took what he called the “extraordinary step” of ordering the head of U.S. immigration enforcement to appear in court this Friday to explain why he shouldn’t be held in contempt, the judge also gave the government a way out. He said the acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief, Todd Lyons, could avoid appearing if his agency released an immigrant whose unlawful detention sparked the judge’s order. ICE released the man and now Lyons doesn’t have to appear.
“That does not end the Court’s concerns, however,” Schiltz wrote Wednesday.
The judge, who clerked for conservative icon Antonin Scalia and was appointed to the bench by George W. Bush, took another extraordinary step: He attached a document to his latest order that listed 96 court orders that ICE had violated in 74 cases. The judge made clear that the list was probably an undercount and is limited to orders issued this month.
“This list should give pause to anyone — no matter his or her political beliefs — who cares about the rule of law,” Schiltz wrote.
“ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence,” the judge went on, warning that future noncompliance “may result” in orders threatening contempt like the one he issued in this case.
“ICE is not a law unto itself,” he wrote.
He noted that the man in this case, identified in court papers as Juan T.R., could seek monetary sanctions.
Schiltz’s order is a shocking sign of the moment we’re in, both for the lawlessness that it exposes and for the fact that nothing guarantees there will be any serious consequences for that lawlessness. In this case, it appears that the consequence ICE suffered was belatedly complying with the law. To be sure, the rogue agency may have been insulted by having to do so, but it’s cold comfort for the American people to look at this list and see that its consequence may only be the possibility of future consequences. The judge might have seen that as the best he could realistically do.
But any true consequences remain to be seen. While at least some members of the judiciary have, like Schiltz, played an active role in our democracy of late, Congress also has a role to play as it considers funding the agency ahead of a looming shutdown deadline on Friday. Despite the limited power Schiltz has over the executive branch, his order gives Congress and the country plenty to think about. When a respected conservative judge goes out of his way to observe that ICE has likely violated more court orders this month than other agencies have in their existence, a Congress with any self-respect for the laws it passes and the people it represents can’t take the agency’s future as a given — at least not in its current undisciplined form.
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