Judge orders ICE chief to appear in court to explain ‘extraordinary violations’ of detainee rights
Judge slams ICE for ‘extraordinary violations’ and orders chief to appear in court
- A chief federal judge in Minnesota has ordered the acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons, to appear in court to explain why detainees have been denied due process.
- Citing the Trump administration's failure to comply with orders for immigrant bond hearings, the judge wrote, “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.”
- The judge ordered Lyons to appear in court in person Friday to explain why he shouldn’t be held in contempt, and he acknowledged it is an “extraordinary” demand.
- “But the extent of ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary, and lesser measures have been tried and failed,” Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz wrote.
- The order comes a day after President Donald Trump ordered border czar Tom Homan to take over his administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota following the second death this month of an American citizen at the hands of an immigration law enforcement officer.