A chief federal judge in Minnesota has ordered Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear in person in court and show cause why he should not be held in contempt for violating the Court’s January 14, 2026.
In an order dated Monday, Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz directed Todd Lyons, ICE’s acting director, to appear in person for a show-cause hearing on Jan. 30 in Minneapolis. The judge called the step “extraordinary,” but said the agency’s noncompliance has been just as extreme. U.S. District Court order
Schiltz said his court has faced “dozens” of recent instances in which federal officials failed to comply with orders, resulting in prolonged detention, transfers out of Minnesota, or releases in other states that leave immigrants to find their own way home. He wrote that the court had been “extremely patient” 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.”
According to the court order, on January 14, 2026, the Court granted petitioner Juan T.R.’s habeas petition and directed that “respondents provide petitioner a bond hearing within 7 days of the date of this Order” and that “If respondents do not provide petitioner with a bond hearing within 7 days of the date of this Order, petitioner must be immediately released from detention.”
On Jan. 23, Juan’s attorney notified the court that he still had not received a bond hearing and remained detained, prompting the new order requiring Lyons to appear.
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