ICE Chief Ordered to Appear in Federal Court
Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell /
The acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Todd Lyons, has been ordered to appear in court after a federal judge said the agency has failed to comply with dozens of court orders.
The chief judge of Minnesota’s federal court, Patrick Schiltz, threatened Lyons with contempt after his agency missed a deadline to provide a detainee with a bond hearing.
“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 wrote.
“The court’s patience is at an end,” he continued.
ICE did not immediately respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment. Schiltz said he will cancel Friday’s hearing if the detainee is released.
Schiltz admitted that his order for Lyons to defend himself is “an extraordinary step.”
He added that it was necessary because “the extent of ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary, and lesser measures have been tried and failed.”
“The practical consequence of respondents’ failure to comply has almost always been significant hardship to aliens (many of whom have lawfully lived and worked in the United States for years and done absolutely nothing wrong),” the filing reads.
“The detention of an alien is extended, or an alien who should remain in Minnesota is flown to Texas, or an alien who has been flown to Texas is released there and told to figure out a way to get home,” the judge wrote.