2,044 events on record Subscribe September 10, 2026
Standing Record home The Standing Record A non-partisan record of US democratic norms —
and the events that erode them.

Chief Judge Schiltz found ICE, DHS Secretary Noem, and Acting Director Lyons defied 'dozens' of court orders; summoned Lyons over contempt

On January 26, 2026, Minnesota Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz ordered Todd Lyons, ICE's acting director, to personally appear in federal court to explain why he should not be held in contempt, finding that Lyons, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and the acting ICE director of the agency's St. Paul field office had failed to comply with "dozens of court orders" in recent weeks. The order arose from ICE's failure to hold a court-ordered bond hearing for detainee Juan Hugo Tobay Robles, or release him, within seven days as a January 14, 2026 order had required. DHS called Schiltz an "activist judge" and did not address the specific findings of noncompliance.

Part of: Trump ICE Defiance of Federal Court Orders, Operation Metro Surge (Twin Cities ICE Surge)

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Abuses documented

Actors

On January 26, 2026, Minnesota Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz ordered Todd Lyons, ICE's acting director, to personally appear in federal court that Friday to explain why he should not be held in contempt, writing that the court's "patience is at an end" with the Trump administration's immigration enforcement in Minnesota [1][2]. Schiltz found that Lyons, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and David Easterwood, the acting ICE director of the agency's St. Paul field office, had failed to comply with "dozens of court orders" in recent weeks, causing "significant hardship" — detainees held longer than judges had allowed, people transferred out of Minnesota despite court rulings, and others flown to Texas and "told to figure out a way to get home" [1].

The order arose from a specific case: a January 14, 2026 order had required ICE to give detainee Juan Hugo Tobay Robles a bond hearing, or release him, within seven days. As of January 23, ICE had done neither [2]. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called Schiltz an "activist judge" accusing the court of interfering with ICE's enforcement work, and did not address the specific findings of noncompliance [1].

Updates

2026-01-28 — ICE released the detainee; Schiltz canceled Lyons's court appearance, citing 96 further violated orders [3][4]

Tobay Robles's attorney said his client had been released from ICE custody in Texas; Schiltz subsequently canceled Lyons's scheduled Friday appearance, but in a follow-up order said ICE had violated 96 court orders across 74 cases since January 1, 2026, and that "the extent of ICE's noncompliance is almost certainly substantially understated." Schiltz warned that future noncompliance could still prompt a personal show-cause order against Lyons or other officials. DHS said the cancellation meant only that Lyons was "no longer ordered to appear to testify" and that it would "not be deterred by activists either in the streets or on the bench."

Why we recorded this

Court orders are how the law binds the executive branch; when an agency simply does not comply, that check exists only on paper. A federal judge found on the record that ICE, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and a field-office director had failed to comply with "dozens of court orders" in recent weeks, and took the rare step of personally summoning ICE's acting director to court to answer for it under threat of contempt. This archive records the finding because it establishes, on a judge's own docket, that the agency was treating compliance with binding orders as optional rather than obligatory.

Sources

  1. Fed judge orders ICE director to appear in court — Lewiston Tribune (wire) primary accessed August 24, 2026
  2. Minnesota judge orders acting ICE director to appear in court — CNN primary accessed August 24, 2026
  3. Man is released from detention after his case led a judge to order ICE leader into court — WBUR primary accessed August 24, 2026
  4. Federal judge backs away from threat to hold ICE leader in contempt — Fox News primary accessed August 24, 2026

See also