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.

ICE officer Travis Erdman defied federal court order protecting Iowa student-visa holder; judge found civil contempt

On June 30, 2026, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger held ICE Deportation Officer Travis Erdman in civil contempt for knowingly defying a court order that blocked the transfer of Pardeep Saini, a 22-year-old student-visa holder, out of the district. Erdman transferred Saini to Nebraska on April 1, 2026, despite the order, and testified at the contempt hearing that he was aware of the violation and had sought guidance only from ICE's own legal office, which twice told him to keep Saini in Nebraska. Judge Ebinger ruled that Erdman had made "no effort, at any point, to bring his agency into compliance," calling the conduct "astonishing" and "exceedingly unacceptable."

Part of: Trump ICE Defiance of Federal Court Orders

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Des Moines, Iowa

Abuses documented

Actors

On June 30, 2026, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger held ICE Deportation Officer Travis Erdman in civil contempt for knowingly defying her court order in the detention case of Pardeep Saini, a 22-year-old Indian national whose student visa had been revoked. Judge Ebinger had ordered the Department of Justice on March 19, 2026 to show cause for Saini's detention and had explicitly blocked his transfer to another facility; ICE transferred Saini to Nebraska on April 1 anyway.

At the June 30 contempt hearing, Erdman testified he was aware the transfer violated the court's order but sought guidance only from ICE's own legal office, which twice advised him to keep Saini in Nebraska rather than return him to Iowa. Judge Ebinger found that Erdman had made "no effort, at any point, to bring his agency into compliance" and called the conduct "astonishing" and "exceedingly unacceptable." A second federal judge in Iowa separately criticized ICE in a parallel case for transferring another detainee out of the district to moot a pending habeas petition.

The contempt finding documents a pattern in which ICE defied court orders across multiple Iowa cases in 2026. The finding that ICE's own internal legal office counseled continued defiance — rather than a misunderstanding or rogue action by a single officer — was central to Judge Ebinger's ruling.

Why we recorded this

Courts have authority to protect individuals from government detention through habeas corpus and related orders — a bedrock of due process. When federal officials defy those orders, they assert that executive agencies can nullify judicial rulings by ignoring them. Here, ICE transferred Pardeep Saini across state lines in direct defiance of an explicit federal court order, with the responsible officer testifying he was aware of the violation and received guidance from ICE's own legal office to continue defying it. A federal judge found the conduct "knowingly and willful" and "exceedingly unacceptable." This archive records when agencies defy binding court orders, establishing a pattern of placing executive immigration enforcement above judicial authority.

Sources

  1. Iowa judges take ICE to task over 'astonishing conduct' and violations of court orders — Iowa Capital Dispatch primary accessed June 30, 2026
  2. Iowa judges take ICE to task over 'astonishing conduct' and violations of court orders — KCRG secondary accessed June 30, 2026

See also