Chief federal judge skewers U.S. Attorney's Office, raises threat of criminal contempt over violations

Sarah Nelson, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Feb 26, 2026

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Minnesota’s chief federal judge on Thursday sharply escalated the ongoing confrontation between the judiciary and the state’s top federal prosecutor’s office over violations in immigration cases, including raising the possibility of holding people in criminal contempt in the future.

In a rare rebuke, U.S. District Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz on Thursday attacked allegations by Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen that the judge overstated the number of court violations Rosen’s attorneys have made in immigration cases.

Schiltz previously said he found 96 violations among 74 immigration cases since the Trump administration deployed federal agents to Minnesota, leading to an onslaught of court filings known as wrongful detention cases. The mounting violations tied to the petitions prompted Schiltz in late January to order Todd Lyons, the acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to appear in his courtroom. Schiltz ultimately canceled the hearing but said at the time that his concerns remain about authorities’ handling of illegal immigration cases.

In a supplemental order, Schiltz criticized Rosen’s dispute of the judge’s findings. In an exchange included in court filings, Rosen on Feb. 9 called the judge’s conclusions “far beyond the pale of accuracy for an order that would be wielded so publicly and so sharply.”

Rosen’s email from Feb. 9, quoted in Schiltz’s order, said that his office’s own review of 12 cases from Schiltz’s list of violations showed few or no issues.

“The lawyers in my civil division didn’t deserve it,” Rosen said about Schiltz’s previous order.

Schiltz responded that he ordered another review of his previous findings, conducted by himself and others on the bench, that revealed corrected numbers. Schiltz said the latest review concluded ICE allegedly violated 97 court orders among 66 cases and rejected Rosen’s characterization of his previous examination as blatantly false.

“The judges of this District have been extraordinarily patient with the government attorneys, recognizing that they have been put in an impossible position by Rosen and his superiors in the Department of Justice,” Schiltz said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to the Minnesota Star Tribune’s message seeking comment.

The crushing caseload of wrongful detention petitions have been compounded by staff turnover in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Many veteran prosecutors have left since mid-January over disagreements with the direction of the Justice Department, decimating staffing levels. The office has since been supplemented by military lawyers and attorneys from out of state.

Schiltz noted that his previous order acknowledged the civil attorneys’ struggle, and that the caseload has led civil attorney Ana Voss to depart the office.

“What those attorneys ‘didn’t deserve’ was the Administration sending 3,000 ICE agents to Minnesota to detain people without making any provision for handling the hundreds of lawsuits that were sure to follow,” Schiltz said, referencing Rosen’s prior email.

Violations of court orders tied to the cases led a federal judge in Minnesota last week to find a military lawyer in civil contempt and issue a $500 fine per day until the attorneys complied with her orders in the immigrant’s case. U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino later purged the civil contempt but said the case was indicative of broader problems in the office’s handling of immigration cases.

Schiltz also targeted Rosen’s apparent promise to “redouble” efforts to comply with immigration cases since late January. Schiltz said he’s identified another 113 orders that ICE has violated in 77 additional cases since his Jan. 28 order.

“This Court will continue to do whatever is required to protect the rule of law, including, if necessary, moving to the use of criminal contempt,” he wrote. “One way or another, ICE will comply with this Court’s orders.”