A Minnesota judge summons the ICE director to testify regarding a possible crime of contempt

Patrick Schiltz, district judge of the state of Minnesota, summoned the acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), Todd Lyons, to testify on Tuesday after he refused to comply with a series of court orders and thus prevented dozens of migrants from attending their respective court hearings.

Now, Schiltz has issued a subpoena and has asked Lyons to testify before a federal court, where he will have to present the case, justify the measures adopted and face a possible case of contempt, according to information collected by the television network CNN.

The judge has clarified that his patience “has come to an end” in the face of the actions of the Administration of US President Donald Trump, operations that have been harshly criticized by the opposition and Human Rights defense organizations as the detentions of migrants continue in the state.

In this sense, he has accused Lyons, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, and the head of ICE in Saint Paul, David Easterwood, of failing to comply with dozens of court orders in recent weeks, which has lengthened the detention of many of these migrants, who asked that their cases be studied to be released on bail.

“The fundamental consequence of the failure to comply with these orders has worsened the situation for these foreigners, many of whom have been living and working legally in the United States for many years and have done nothing wrong,” Schiltz clarified.

The actions of ICE agents in Minnesota have generated important popular demonstrations and concern and criticism from different points of the ideological spectrum. The latest case was the death of nurse Alex Pretti on Saturday when a Border Patrol agent shot him repeatedly while he was being subdued during an operation to capture a foreigner in downtown Minneapolis.