Topline
The chief federal judge in Minnesota ordered acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to appear in court Friday, threatening him with a potential contempt charge as the judge argues the Trump administration has ignored “dozens” of immigration court orders amid its controversial Operation Metro Surge.
Todd Lyons, acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), participates in a television interview outside the White House on November 3, 2025.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Judge Patrick J. Schlitz, the chief judge on Minnesota’s District Court, ordered Lyons late Monday to appear in court, after the judge ruled an immigrant defendant must be given a hearing or be released from detention—but learned the Trump administration has kept the defendant detained anyway.
That’s one of “dozens” of immigration-related court orders the Trump administration has failed to comply with in recent weeks, Schlitz noted, after federal judges have repeatedly struck down the government’s efforts to detain or deport immigrants as part of its Operation Metro Surge in the Minneapolis area.
The Trump administration has sent thousands of federal agents to the Twin Cities in recent weeks and ramped up its detention of immigrants, sparking widespread protests and leading to the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents.
Schlitz chastised the Trump administration for sending agents to the area “without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of … lawsuits that were sure to result,” and argued the government had caused “significant hardship” to the immigrant defendants, many of whom “have lawfully lived and worked in the United States for years and done absolutely nothing wrong.”
Saying the court’s “patience is at an end,” Lyons must now appear in court to “show cause why he should not be held in contempt of court,” Schlitz ordered.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin decried Schlitz as “just another activist judge who is clearly more concerned about politics than the safety of the Minnesotans” in a statement Tuesday, criticizing the judge—who was appointed by President George W. Bush—for wanting Lyons to “take time out of his day … to testify at a hearing for one illegal alien’s removal proceedings.”
Crucial Quote
“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,” Schlitz wrote.
What To Watch For
Lyons has been ordered to appear in court at 1 p.m. CST on Friday, though the judge said if the immigrant defendant in the case is released from detention before then, he won’t have to appear. It remains to be seen whether the Trump administration will comply with that order so that Lyons will not have to appear, and whether the court could ultimately hold the ICE chief in contempt if not.
Tangent
A separate federal judge is now deliberating on whether to allow Operation Metro Surge to keep going, after Judge Katherine Menendez held a hearing Monday. Minnesota is asking the court to end the influx of federal agents and return the number of ICE agents in the Twin Cities to the level they were at before Operation Metro Surge began. Menendez is set to soon decide whether to issue an emergency ruling that would halt ICE’s activities while litigation moves forward, though the judge appeared uncertain Monday how much authority she has to issue a sweeping order that blocks the surge of federal agents. It’s unclear when exactly she will rule.
Key Background
Schlitz’s order comes as Minnesota has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s hardline immigration agenda, with Good and Pretti’s deaths sparking national outrage against Trump’s escalation of federal immigration agents. The Trump administration said in court on Monday it had deployed 3,000 federal agents to Minnesota, and Politico reported federal judges in the state have been “inundated” with court cases from immigrants protesting their detention. Judges have rejected the Trump administration’s agenda in nearly all cases, and Politico notes the government has quickly transferred many detainees out-of-state in order to prevent them from filing in Minnesota courts. Prior to his order Monday threatening contempt, Schlitz previously tussled with the Trump administration last week, when the judge refused to allow charges against people who allegedly improperly protested at a church in St. Paul, including journalist Don Lemon.
Further Reading
