Matt Sepic and MPR News Staff
January 27, 2026 7:00 AM
Judge orders acting ICE director to appear in federal court in Minneapolis
Minnesota’s chief federal judge is ordering the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear personally in a Minneapolis courtroom on Friday, with the judge saying that ICE has failed to comply with dozens of court orders.
That’s amid the agency’s ongoing surge of agents to Minnesota.
Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz in a Monday court filing, ordering acting ICE director Todd Lyons to appear in court, wrote that “the Court’s patience is at an end.”
“The Court acknowledges that ordering the head of a federal agency to personally appear is an extraordinary step, but the extent of ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary, and lesser measures have been tried and failed,” Schiltz wrote.
The judge’s order was filed in the case of a man challenging his detention in Minnesota earlier this month. The federal court had ordered on Jan. 14 that he get a bond hearing — or be released — within a week. On Jan. 23, the man’s lawyer notified the court that he hadn’t received a hearing, and remained in detention.
Schiltz wrote Monday that it’s one of “dozens” of court orders that ICE has failed to follow in recent weeks.
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https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/27/judge-orders-ice-director-to-appear-federal-court-minneapolis
