The chief district judge in Minnesota, Patrick Schiltz, has ordered Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons to appear in federal court on Friday after failing to comply with multiple court orders, including one requiring his appearance in a case brought by a man challenging his detention by federal immigration officers.
"This is one of dozens of court orders with which respondents have failed to comply in recent weeks," Judge Schiltz wrote. "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)."
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. Respondents have continually assured the Court that they recognize their obligation to comply with Court orders, and that they have taken steps to ensure that those orders will be honored going forward. Unfortunately, though, the violations continue.
"The Court’s patience is at an end," he added.
"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."
The order stems from a specific immigration case involving Juan Hugo Tobay Robles, an Ecuadorean national who entered the United States illegally roughly 30 years ago. Immigration authorities detained him on January 6, prompting Tobay Robles to challenge his detention.
On January 14, Judge Schiltz ordered ICE to either provide him a hearing within a week to contest his confinement or release him from custody altogether. In his ruling, the judge concluded that ICE was detaining Tobay Robles based on an improper reading of federal law.
Judge Schiltz is a George W. Bush appointee and once clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration responded by releasing Robles, meaning that Lyons will no longer be required to testify in court.
Editor’s Note: Democrat politicians and their radical supporters will do everything they can to interfere with and threaten ICE agents enforcing our immigration laws.
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