DHS Responds After Judge Accuses ICE of Violating 96 Court Orders in Minnesota

The Department of Homeland Security responded to criticism from a federal judge who claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had violated 96 court orders in 74 cases.

Patrick Schiltz, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, had originally demanded that ICE give a detained immigrant a bond hearing within seven days. After the agency initially defied his order, he commanded acting director Todd Lyons to appear before him to explain why he should not be held in contempt of court.

The agency then released the detained immigrant and Schiltz dismissed his order, but not before issuing a scathing rebuke claiming that ICE had violated 96 court orders.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded Thursday and did not contradict the list of allegedly violated orders. She did highlight that the judge dismissed his order that Lyons appear in court.

“If DHS’s behavior was so vile, why dismiss the order to appear?” McLaughlin told The Daily Signal in a statement. “Despite the diatribe from this activist judge, the only order involved with this case issued yesterday was that Acting Director Lyons was no longer ordered to appear to testify in court.”

“DHS will continue to enforce the laws of the United States within all applicable constitutional guidelines,” she added. “We will not be deterred by activists either in the streets or on the bench.”

Condemning ICE

Schiltz, an appointee of President George W. Bush, rebuked ICE as part of his dismissal of Lyons’ order on Wednesday.

“Attached to this order is an appendix that identifies 96 court orders that ICE has violated in 74 cases,” the judge wrote. “The extent of ICE’s noncompliance is almost certainly substantially understated.” The list includes orders issued since Jan. 1.

“ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence,” Schiltz wrote.

“ICE is not a law unto itself. 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.”

Immigration Courts

The case revolves around questions of ICE’s ability to detain illegal aliens. Judge Schiltz ordered ICE to provide the immigrant a bond hearing under 8 U.S.C. Section 1226(a).

Immigration courts inside the Executive Branch often handle immigration cases, yet lawyers for illegal aliens pursue cases in Article III courts, instead.

Lora Ries, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told The Daily Signal that the Trump administration is using mandatory detention to avoid releasing illegal aliens, and the administration has a strong policy case for this.

“Similar to the Remain in Mexico Program that the Trump 45 administration was the first to use—despite the authority becoming law in 1996—this Trump administration is increasing the use of mandatory detention per the same law to prevent ‘catch and release,'” Ries said. “The administration is on strong legal and policy grounds.”

“Detained aliens can still pursue immigration benefits like asylum or other relief from deportation,” she noted. “The fact that detained deportable aliens are running to federal court is yet another example of deportable aliens using our court systems to delay their removal.”

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