While cancelling a contempt-of-court hearing for acting ICE chief Todd Lyons – after the agency belatedly complied with an order to release a wrongly detained Ecuadorean man – US District Judge Patrick Schiltz cited at least 96 federal court orders he said ICE has violated in 74 cases.
“This list should give pause to anyone – no matter his or her political beliefs – who cares about the rule of law,” Schiltz wrote in his ruling. “ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2025 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
It was not made clear what Homan planned to discuss at his press conference, two days after he held his first meetings with Frey and Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, who have denounced the ICE operation as “reckless” and demanded it be ended altogether.
SCENE ON THE STREETS
The guidance contained in the internal ICE memo seemed to reflect a change playing out on the streets of Minneapolis.
Observers and activists closely tracking ICE actions told Reuters that immigration raids had slackened somewhat on Tuesday before ramping up again on Wednesday, though in a more narrowly tailored manner.
Trump himself said on Tuesday he was looking to “de-escalate a little bit”, and dispatched Homan to take over the operation from Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol official whose aggressive tactics drew widespread criticism and legal challenges.
Minnesota’s Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St Paul have been in a state of upheaval since Trump ordered some 3,000 heavily armed ICE and Border Patrol agents to the area weeks ago to conduct a deportation drive dubbed Operation Metro Surge.
Tensions escalated after Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot dead behind the wheel of her car by an ICE agent on Jan 7, sparking demonstrations in the Twin Cities and in communities large and small across the country.
But public outrage deepened after Saturday’s fatal shooting of an intensive care nurse, Alex Pretti, also 37, during another encounter between immigration agents and activists who confronted them to record and protest ICE activity.