Minnesota Chief Judge Who Threatened ICE Director With Contempt Has Long Donated to Immigrant Legal‑Aid Group
U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Schiltz ordered acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to appear in person for a show‑cause contempt hearing after ICE failed to provide a bond hearing or release Ecuadorian detainee Juan Hugo Tobay Robles — conduct Schiltz said was one of “dozens” of recent violations tied to the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge that has caused significant hardship. Separately, Schiltz and his wife have long donated to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota and Mid‑Minnesota Legal Aid — a fact that has drawn conservative scrutiny over potential recusal even as Schiltz says he supports legal representation for the poor — and he has previously clashed with DOJ in other high‑profile Minnesota matters.
📌 Key Facts
- U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz has ordered acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to appear in person for a show‑cause/contempt hearing over ICE’s alleged noncompliance with court orders.
- The order centers on the habeas case of Ecuadorian national Juan Hugo Tobay Robles, detained at Fort Snelling, after the court required ICE to provide him a bond hearing within seven days (or release him) and no hearing occurred by the deadline.
- Schiltz wrote that he has been "extremely patient" with the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge but that his "patience is at an end," calling the decision to make an agency head personally appear an "extraordinary step" taken after "lesser measures have been tried and failed" because ICE has ignored "dozens" of recent court orders.
- The judge said ICE’s repeated violations have caused "significant hardship" to noncitizens, many of whom have long lawfully lived and worked in the U.S.; Lyons may avoid the in‑person appearance if the parties first file papers confirming Tobay Robles has been released.
- Schiltz linked ICE’s noncompliance to the Trump administration’s deployment of thousands of agents to Minnesota (Operation Metro Surge) without a plan to handle the resulting hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits.
- The contempt threat is part of a broader pattern of clashes between Schiltz and federal prosecutors in Minnesota, including his recent rejection of the DOJ’s effort at the 8th Circuit to force him to sign arrest warrants for five anti‑ICE protesters (including Don Lemon), which the appeals court unanimously rejected.
- Judge Schiltz and his wife were listed as donors in the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota’s 2019 annual report; Schiltz told Fox News he has long donated to that group and to Mid‑Minnesota Legal Aid because he believes poor people should have legal representation.
- Conservative watchdog Tom Fitton publicly questioned whether Schiltz’s donations to immigrant legal‑aid groups create recusal issues; the Immigrant Law Center routinely criticizes the Trump administration and advertises free legal help for immigrants, refugees and ICE detainees.
📰 Source Timeline (6)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
January 27, 2026
11:34 PM
Federal judge threatening ICE director with contempt donated to group helping illegal immigrants
New information:
- Judge Patrick Schiltz and his wife were listed as donors in the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota’s 2019 annual report and he confirms he has donated to the group for many years.
- The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota routinely condemns the Trump administration and advertises free legal help for immigrants, refugees and ICE detainees.
- Schiltz told Fox News Digital he has long donated both to the Immigrant Law Center and to Mid‑Minnesota Legal Aid, saying he believes poor people should be able to get legal representation; conservative watchdog Tom Fitton publicly questioned whether these donations raise recusal issues.
- The article reiterates that Schiltz also has conservative credentials, including twice clerking for Justice Antonin Scalia, and situates his contempt threat amid a pattern of DOJ setbacks in Minnesota, including his rejection of DOJ’s bid to charge Don Lemon and others over a church protest.
8:04 PM
Minnesota judge orders acting ICE director to appear in court
New information:
- CBS confirms, in a national broadcast piece, that a Minnesota federal judge has ordered acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to appear in court and warned he could face contempt over earlier non‑compliance with his order.
- The segment amplifies that this is not just a paper dispute but a mandatory personal court appearance for the agency’s top official, underscoring the seriousness of the bench’s challenge to ICE conduct in Minnesota.
4:38 PM
Chief Minnesota judge orders acting head of ICE to appear in court to explain himself
New information:
- Schiltz’s written order says, 'The Court’s patience is at an end,' and calls ordering Lyons to appear an 'extraordinary step' prompted by 'extraordinary' ICE violations of court orders.
- He links ICE’s noncompliance to the Trump administration’s decision to send 'thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain aliens' without any plan to handle the 'hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits' that predictably followed.
- Schiltz emphasizes this is 'one of dozens of court orders' ICE has ignored in recent weeks and notes he has repeatedly been 'extremely patient' while officials promised improvements that never materialized.
- The piece connects this contempt threat to the broader pattern of unprecedented federal conduct Schiltz has already flagged, including DOJ’s failed bid to arrest Don Lemon and others over a church protest, and situates it in the political context of a fresh fatal immigration‑officer shooting of a Minnesota citizen.
3:21 PM
Acting ICE director faces contempt hearing
New information:
- Axios reports that Judge Patrick J. Schiltz has formally ordered acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to appear in person Friday afternoon for a contempt hearing to "show cause why he should not be held in contempt" over noncompliance with court orders.
- The article specifies that the triggering violation was ICE’s failure to provide a bond hearing within seven days, as ordered on Jan. 14, or release the petitioner; as of Jan. 23, the detainee had received neither.
- Schiltz’s order, quoted by Axios, states that this case is "one of dozens" of recent orders ICE has failed to obey, and that the practical consequence has "almost always been significant hardship" to noncitizens, many of whom have long lawfully lived and worked in the U.S. and "done absolutely nothing wrong."
- The judge characterizes ordering the head of a federal agency to personally appear as an "extraordinary step" taken only after "lesser measures have been tried and failed," underscoring the depth of the court’s frustration with ICE and the Trump administration’s Minnesota operation.
2:28 PM
Judge in Minnesota orders ICE chief to appear in court
New information:
- Confirms that Judge Patrick Schiltz’s show‑cause order centers on the habeas case of Ecuadorian national Juan Hugo Tobay Robles, detained at Fort Snelling.
- Details that Schiltz’s prior order required ICE to provide Tobay Robles a bond hearing within seven days or release him, and that no hearing occurred by the deadline.
- Quotes Schiltz’s language that he has been "extremely patient" with the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge but that his "patience is at an end," and that ordering an agency head to appear is "extraordinary" yet warranted by ICE’s repeated violations.
- Clarifies that Lyons need not appear if the parties first file papers confirming Tobay Robles has been released from custody.
- Adds context that the same judge recently clashed with DOJ over its bid at the 8th Circuit to force him to sign arrest warrants for five anti‑ICE protesters, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon, which the appeals court unanimously rejected.