By Jack Queen
NEW YORK, Jan 28 (Reuters) – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has complied with a Minnesota federal judge’s order to release a wrongly detained Ecuadorean man, likely averting an in-person contempt of court hearing for its acting director.
Ecuadorean citizen Juan Tobay Robles was released on Tuesday, his lawyer said.
His release means that acting ICE director Todd Lyons is no longer required to make an extraordinary appearance in Minnesota federal court to explain his agency’s failure to comply with dozens of court orders during President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration enforcement surge.
Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz of Minnesota on Monday ordered Lyons to appear in court on Friday unless ICE released Robles. Schiltz criticized ICE for repeatedly flouting court orders and sending thousands of immigration agents to Minnesota “without making any provision for dealing with” the hundreds of legal actions that were sure to result.
Schiltz must still enter an order canceling the hearing, which could have been damaging to ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as they grapple with lawsuits and the fallout of two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by ICE agents in Minnesota.
The Trump administration sent thousands of immigration agents to Minneapolis and Saint Paul beginning in December in what officials described as an operation to enforce immigration laws and stop fraud.
Minnesota’s Democratic leaders have accused Trump of flooding the streets of those cities with armed agents out of animus for their Democratic political leanings, and as part of his feud with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Trump and Walz on Monday said they spoke by phone about de-escalating tensions in Minnesota following weeks of protests and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents.
The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office is suing to block the surge or rein in ICE tactics, accusing agents of racially profiling citizens, making unlawful stops and arrests and sowing fear in communities.
The Trump administration has said the operation is lawful. A judge has yet to rule on the state’s request.
(Reporting by Jack Queen in New YorkEditing by Bill Berkrot)
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