People participate in an anti-ICE rally in Minneapolis. (AP Photo) Minnesota’s chief federal judge has ordered the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to appear before the court on Friday and explain why he shouldn’t be held in contempt as the judge said the US President Donald Trump’s administration has failed to comply with orders to hold hearings for detained immigrants.
Chief Judge Patrick J Schiltz, in an order dated Monday, said ICE’s acting chief Todd Lyons must appear before the court personally. Judge Schiltz reprimanded Trump administration over its handling of bond hearings for the immigrants it has detained, AP reported.
The judge wrote, “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 order comes a day after President Trump sent border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota and take over his administration’s immigration crackdown operations in the state, following the second death this month of US citizen by federal agents.
Trump, on Tuesday, said that he had “great calls” with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Monday. The Department of Homeland Security has defended the Border Patrol agent who shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti on Saturday and said the officer fired in “self-defence” as Pretti had a gun in his hand.
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However, videos from the bystanders have proved that Pretti wasn’t a threat and he was holding a phone in his hand instead of a gun as claimed by Trump administration’s officials.
Judge Schiltz, however, wrote in the order that he acknowledges ordering the head of a federal agency to appear personally in court is extraordinary. “But the extent of ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary, and lesser measures have been tried and failed,” he added.
The order further stated, “Respondents have continually assured the Court that they recognize their obligation to comply with Court orders, and that they have taken steps to ensure that those orders will be honored going forward.”
(with inputs from AP)
