A federal judge in Minnesota on Wednesday canceled a scheduled contempt of court hearing for acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons after the agency complied with an order to release an Ecuadorian national.
Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz in Minneapolis had ordered Lyons to appear in court at 1 p.m. local time on Friday to answer questions over ICE's decision to ignore nearly 100 court orders issued during the Trump administration's immigration enforcement crackdown.
In his order on Wednesday, Schiltz said he had noted in his previous order calling for Lyons to testify that if ICE released Juan T.R., an Ecuadorian man who petitioned the court arguing he was wrongfully detained, the contempt of court hearing would be canceled. Since the agency told the court that Juan had been released, Schiltz said Friday's hearing would no longer take place.
"That does not end the Court’s concerns, however. Attached to this order is an appendix that identifies 96 court orders that ICE has violated in 74 cases. The extent of ICE’s noncompliance is almost certainly substantially understated," the judge wrote. "ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence."
Schiltz warned ICE that continued noncompliance with the court's orders could result in future hearings compelling testimony from Lyons or other federal government officials.
"ICE is not a law unto itself. ICE has every right to challenge the orders of this Court, but, like any litigant, ICE must follow those orders unless and until they are overturned or vacated," the judge added.
ICE did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
The court issued many of the orders cited by Schiltz after President Donald Trump sent federal agents to Minnesota's Twin Cities in a surge of illegal immigration enforcement.
During the surge, the administration has faced criticism by Democrats and some Republicans, particularly after the killings of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, by federal agents.
The Trump administration has defended the agents in both incidents but has launched investigations into the shootings as local law enforcement pursues its own investigations alongside federal partners.
Top Republican lawmakers are calling on the heads of three critical Homeland Security Department subagencies—ICE, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP)—to soon testify before Congress amid the fallout from the federal surge.
“I take my oversight duties for the department seriously, and Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect,” Garbarino said in a statement on the letters.