Judge orders head of ICE to explain agency’s handling of bond hearings for immigrants it has detained.
Published On 27 Jan 2026
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Minnesota’s chief federal judge has ordered the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to appear before him later in the week over the federal agency’s handling of bond hearings for immigrants it has detained, as protests over United States President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the midwestern state continue.
In an order dated Monday, Chief Judge Patrick J Schiltz said Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, must appear in court on Friday.
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“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,” wrote Schiltz.
The order comes after Trump ordered “border czar” Tom Homan to take over his administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota following the death of a second person this month at the hands of an immigration law enforcement officer.
Trump said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that he had “great calls” with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Monday, mirroring comments he made immediately after the calls.
The White House had tried to blame Democratic leaders for protests of federal officers conducting immigration raids, but after Saturday’s killing of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti and videos of the incident suggesting he was not an active threat, the administration tapped Homan to take charge of the Minnesota operation from Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino.
Bystander videos also suggested that 37-year-old mother of three Renee Nicole Good had not been a threat when she was shot earlier this month. Both victims were US citizens.
Schiltz’s order also follows a federal court hearing Monday on a request by the state and the mayors of Minneapolis and St Paul for a judge to order a halt to the immigration law enforcement surge.
Immigration agents remained active Tuesday across both cities.
Schiltz wrote that he recognises ordering the head of a federal agency to appear personally is extraordinary, “but the extent of ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary, and lesser measures have been tried and failed.”
The order lists the petitioner by first name and last initials: Juan TR. It says the court granted a petition on January 14 from the person to provide him with a bond hearing within seven days. On January 23, Juan’s lawyers told the court that he remained detained. Court documents show the petitioner is a citizen of Ecuador who came to the US around 1999.
The order says Schiltz will cancel Lyons’s appearance if the petitioner is released from custody.
