A federal judge in Minnesota ran out of patience with one of President Donald Trump's top immigration officials.
Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz found the administration had failed to comply with court orders to hold hearings for detained immigrants and ordered Todd Lyons, the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to appear before him Friday to explain himself, reported the Associated Press.
“This Court has been extremely patient with respondents, even though respondents decided to send thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain aliens without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result,” the judge wrote.
The George W. Bush appointee has been frustrated by the administration's Operation Metro Surge in the Minneapolis area that has flooded the courts with emergency lawsuits filed by immigrants who say they have been illegally arrested or detained, and the judge has accused Trump officials of slow-walking or defying court orders.
"The court’s patience is at an end," Schiltz wrote in his order. "Accordingly, the Court will order Todd Lyons, the Acting Director of ICE, to appear personally before the Court and show cause why he should not be held in contempt of Court. 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."
Schiltz’s order came in the case of a man he ordered released Jan. 15 but remained in custody as of Monday night, and the judge said he would cancel Lyons’ appearance if the petitioner is released .