MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The chief federal judge in Minnesota is threatening to hold government officials in criminal contempt of court for continuously violating court orders during an explosion of litigation related to Operation Metro Surge.
"One way or another, ICE will comply with this Court’s orders," Chief U.S. District Court Judge Patrick Schiltz wrote.
What we know:
The tension between the chief federal judge in Minnesota and the Trump administration escalated to another level this week.
Judge Schiltz directly challenged U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen and accused the state’s top federal prosecutor of attacking the court.
RELATED: ICE in Minnesota: Federal judge lifts contempt order, blasts government attorneys
Judge Schiltz had previously warned the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials that violations of court orders would not be tolerated during Operation Metro Surge.
The enhanced immigration enforcement operations of the Trump administration led to thousands of arrests of immigrants living in Minnesota and generated an unprecedented level of civil litigation involving individuals challenging their detainment on constitutional grounds.
Appointed to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, Schiltz has authored some of the strongest rebukes of the Trump Administration during the recent immigration operation.
Schiltz previously stated ICE had violated 96 court orders in 66 different cases.
He accused the agency of violating more court orders in January alone "than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence."
U.S. Attorney challenged previous violation tally
What they're saying:
Rosen claimed the judge’s previous calculations on court violations were overblown.
"Judge, please pardon me for being so direct, but your order of January 28 did not merely contain some errors," Rosen recently wrote to the judge. "The information compiled by others for your order was far beyond the pale of accuracy for an order that would be wielded so publicly and so sharply."
Rosen added that the lawyers in his office "didn’t deserve it."
Schiltz described Rosen’s correspondence as an attack on the court.
"What those attorneys ‘didn’t deserve’ was the Administration sending 3000 ICE agents to Minnesota to detain people without making any provision for handling the hundreds of lawsuits that were sure to follow," Schiltz wrote.
Schiltz said the courts verified 97 previous violations and confirmed another 113 violations since the end of January.
"If anything is ‘beyond the pale,’ it is ICE’s continued violation of the orders of this Court," wrote Schiltz.
"Increasingly, this Court has had to resort to using the threat of civil contempt to force ICE to comply with orders. The Court is not aware of another occasion in the history of the United States in which a federal court has had to threaten contempt—again and again and again—to force the United States government to comply with court orders."
Judges being‘extraordinarily patient' with ICE
The backstory:
Schiltz explained that Minnesota’s district judges have been "extraordinarily patient" with government attorneys during the unprecedented immigration enforcement operations of the Trump administration.
U.S. District judges have overwhelmingly ruled in favor of the immigrants, finding the government does not have the legal right to keep them behind bars while they fight deportation efforts.
Those same judges, as well as immigration attorneys, have grown increasingly frustrated with the government’s failure to immediately release detainees in violation of court orders.
Rosen has acknowledged in an affidavit that the Operation Metro Surge litigation had forced his overwhelmed staff to shift priorities.
As FOX 9 previously reported, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is dealing with a staffing shortage that has seen nearly half of its legal team depart since Donald Trump took office for his second term.
The government has now been found in civil contempt of court, resulting in financial penalties.
Schiltz said judges will not be afraid to impose criminal sanctions if compliance issues continue.
"This Court will continue to do whatever is required to protect the rule of law, including, if necessary, moving to the use of criminal contempt. One way or another, ICE will comply with this Court’s orders," wrote Schiltz.
Rosen, his office, and the Department of Justice have not commented on the most recent order.
ICE contempt hearing next week
What's next:
Rosen and ICE officials have also been ordered to appear in court next week in a separate matter.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan has ordered a hearing on what he called "numerous unlawful violations of court orders" regarding the return of property to "unlawfully detained" immigrants.
Judge Bryan said in 28 cases, ICE had not properly returned items including jewelry, cash, cellphones, driver’s licenses and work permits after individuals were released from federal custody.
Judge Bryan demanded that Rosen and ICE officials attend the contempt proceedings on Tuesday, March 3.