A federal judge in Minnesota on Monday threatened to hold the acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director in contempt for repeatedly ignoring court orders in immigration-related cases.

Chief U.S District Judge Patrick Schiltz ordered acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to appear in court this Friday to answer questions in the case of Juan Tobay Robles, who was arrested by federal immigration agents in Minnesota earlier this month.

Schiltz wants Lyons to explain why Tobay Robles was not given a bond hearing or has otherwise been released from detention within seven days of the judge’s order requiring the Trump administration to provide him that hearing, or release him.

{snip}

He added later, “The Court’s patience is at an end. The Court acknowledges that ordering the head of a federal agency to personally appear is an extraordinary step, but the extent of ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary, and lesser measures have been tried and failed.”

{snip}

If the parties file a notice indicating that Tobay Robles has been released from custody before the hearing, the judge said that the court will cancel the hearing and will not require Lyons to appear.

NBC News reached out to ICE and Tobay Robles’ attorney, Graham Blair Ojala-Barbour, for comment.

Ojala-Barbour filed a petition on Jan. 8 challenging his client’s detention. Tobay Robles was placed into ICE custody at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, a site of the agency’s St. Paul field office. Schiltz on the same day ordered the Trump administration to respond to his petition by Jan. 12 “certifying the true cause and proper duration” of Tobay Robles’ confinement.

Court documents show Tobay Robles first entered the U.S. illegally as a child. He is a citizen of Ecuador and entered the U.S. “without inspection as a minor, in or around 1999,” filings say.

{snip}

The post Judge Threatens to Hold Acting ICE Director in Contempt for Flouting Court Orders appeared first on American Renaissance.