In Minnesota, Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz used a court filing to challenge U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s conduct during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, saying the agency has not been complying with orders issued by federal judges in the state. In the declaration, Schiltz wrote that “ICE is not a law unto itself,” adding that “like any litigant, ICE must follow those orders unless and until they are overturned or vacated.”
Schiltz’s filing came after he reviewed how other judges in his court were handling complaints in cases involving people arrested during “Operation Metro Surge.” He said the government had failed to comply with nearly 100 court orders since Jan. 1 across 74 cases seeking release or other relief, and he said that figure is “almost certainly substantially understated.”
The declaration also contrasted Schiltz’s message with allegations raised in the litigation about tactics during enforcement. The Associated Press described officers’ actions as including use of tear gas at protesters, bursts into homes with battering rams, smashed windows, and people being pulled from cars, alongside accounts of officers killing two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. Schiltz, the AP reported, was not commenting on the tactics themselves but on what he viewed as the government’s obligation to follow the courts’ rulings.
Schiltz’s position drew a quick response from the Homeland Security Department. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the department, called Schiltz’s declaration a “diatribe from this activist judge.” In a statement, she said the department “will not be deterred by activists either in the streets or on the bench,” and the declaration’s language prompted backlash from other administration officials as well.
Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller also rejected the judge’s framing, posting that “The judicial sabotage of democracy is unending.” Miller’s comment referred to Schiltz’s remarks and the broader dispute over whether the enforcement agency is operating in defiance of court orders.
The filing was part of a wider series of court actions involving Minnesota immigration enforcement. The AP reported that U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez issued orders that prohibited officers from using tear gas or pepper spray against peaceful protesters in Minnesota, though an appeal put that remedy on hold. It also cited other cases elsewhere in the country, including a Chicago federal judge’s restrictions on the use of force and an appeals court halting that remedy, before a lawsuit was dropped as tensions eased.
Schiltz’s filing also described the steps he was willing to take to enforce compliance through the contempt process. On Monday, he ordered ICE’s acting director, Todd Lyons, to appear and explain why he should not be held in contempt for the agency’s alleged failure to comply with court orders, according to the AP report. The Homeland Security Department responded by calling Schiltz an “activist judge,” and Schiltz later canceled the hearing after an immigrant in the case was released.
The AP said Schiltz is 65 and has served as a judge for about 20 years after being nominated by Republican President George W. Bush. It also reported that Schiltz previously clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and worked as a practicing attorney and law professor. Mark Osler, a former federal prosecutor who teaches law at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, said, “This is not a judge who courts controversy,” and that Schiltz has “a deep belief in the rule of law,” adding that “Our social contract includes that when government officials are ordered by the courts to do something, there should be a good faith effort to make that happen.”
Schiltz told Fox News Digital, the AP reported, that he has donated to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota and to Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, and he said he believes poor people should have access to legal help.