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The legal action comes as the Trump administration faces mounting pressure over its immigration crackdown in Minnesota, following fatal shootings involving federal agents, protests in Minneapolis, and the deployment of border czar Tom Homan to oversee operations.
The chief federal judge in Minnesota has ordered the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to appear personally in court, saying the Trump administration has failed to comply with orders requiring bond hearings for detained immigrants.
In an order dated Monday (January 26), Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz directed Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, to appear before him on Friday (January 30) to explain why he should not be held in contempt of court.
“This Court has been extremely patient with respondents,” Schiltz wrote, accusing the administration of detaining immigrants without making provisions to handle the surge of habeas petitions and lawsuits that followed.
‘Violations continue’
Schiltz said the administration had repeatedly assured the court it would comply with judicial orders, but failures persisted.
“Respondents have continually assured the Court that they recognize their obligation to comply with Court orders,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, though, the violations continue.”
Calling the step extraordinary, the judge said ordering the head of a federal agency to appear in person was justified. “The extent of ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary, and lesser measures have been tried and failed,” Schiltz added.
The judge said he would cancel Lyons’ appearance if the petitioner at the center of the case is released from custody.
Homan, whom Trump described as “tough but fair,” was dispatched to Minneapolis and will “report directly to me,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Federal agents begin to leave
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said some federal immigration agents will begin leaving the city on Tuesday, amid widespread outrage over the killings of two US citizens.
“Some federal agents will be leaving Minneapolis,” Frey said in a post on X, without providing details. “I will continue pushing for the rest involved in this operation to go.”
Frey said he spoke with Trump on Monday and that the President agreed “the present situation can’t continue.”
White House scrambles
The White House has been under mounting pressure after video of the latest shooting went viral, triggering street protests, criticism from former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and growing unease within Trump’s own Republican Party.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “Nobody in the White House, including President Trump, wants to see people getting hurt or killed,” and expressed sorrow over the death of Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse shot dead on Saturday during a protest in Minneapolis.
Shifting narrative on shooting
Earlier, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described Pretti’s killing as self-defense, initially claiming he approached agents with a handgun — a claim contradicted by available evidence.
Pretti was protesting the January 7 killing of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three and US citizen, who was shot at close range by an ICE officer. Minneapolis has since become the focal point of nationwide protests, with large rallies planned despite freezing conditions. And on January 24, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, was fatally shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis while involved in an encounter related to protests against immigration enforcement — a death that has sparked widespread outrage, conflicting accounts of the incident, and calls for accountability.
(With AP inputs)
English (US) ·