A federal judge clashed with Minnesota’s top federal prosecutor at a contempt hearing in a series of what the judge called “testy and frosty” exchanges Tuesday after he accused the federal government of violating multiple court orders to return property to immigrants who had been unlawfully detained.
In an unusual move, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan demanded that Daniel Rosen, the U.S. attorney for Minnesota; David Fuller, the acting chief of the U.S. attorney’s office; and an ICE official appear in court in St. Paul on Tuesday for “numerous unlawful violations of court orders,” combining 28 different federal immigration cases. The order says the rights of the 28 people have been repeatedly violated through the government’s failure to return personal property taken from the immigrants, who were illegally detained during Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota.
Last week, Bryan ordered the officials to come in and “show cause why they should not be held in civil or criminal contempt.”
Bryan started the hearing Tuesday by calling it “an extraordinary measure” and said it would be a “historic low point” for the U.S. attorney’s office if he held anyone in contempt.
Later, as Bryan called a break, he acknowledged he and Rosen had “been a little testy and frosty with each other.”
In the federal immigration cases, Bryan previously ordered the release of the 28 immigrants, “all of whom had been unlawfully detained,” as well as the immediate return of their belongings. The court had also ordered the federal government to provide documentation of the return of the property.
The belongings included identification and immigration documents, passports, driver’s licenses and work permits, as well as cash, cellphones, clothing and jewelry.
In Bryan’s order Thursday calling for the hearing, he wrote that the court had notified the federal government that if it did not comply by 11 a.m. Feb. 25, it would face contempt proceedings.
“As of the date of this Order, Respondents have not complied,” Bryan wrote. “The Court cannot ignore Respondents’ unlawful conduct.”
The Justice Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
More than 1,000 habeas corpus petitions have challenged the legality of arrests in Minnesota and called for the release of immigrants detained since the operation began in December.
The volume of petitions has overwhelmed the court system and led to strong rebukes and criticism from multiple federal judges, who have warned the government it will face contempt proceedings if it continues to refuse to comply with court orders.
“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,” Patrick Schiltz, the chief federal judge in Minnesota, wrote in an order last week. “One way or another, ICE will comply with this Court’s orders.”
In a late January order, Schiltz included a list of 96 court orders he said ICE had violated in 74 cases since Jan. 1.
“The extent of ICE’s noncompliance is almost certainly substantially understated,” he wrote. “This list should give pause to anyone—no matter his or her political beliefs—who cares about the rule of law. ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
The administration has blamed judges for the crisis, accusing them of failing to follow the law and rushing cases.
The showdown in Minnesota court Tuesday is a part of a growing wave of confrontations across the U.S. between increasingly frustrated judges and Justice Department officials.
Late last month, a judge in West Virginia chastised U.S. and state officials for jailing noncitizens indefinitely, saying it violated their constitutional right to due process.
“Continued detention without individualized custody determinations, after this court’s repeated holdings that such detention violates the Fifth Amendment, will result in legal consequences,” U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin said in his order.
A recent New York Times review found at least 35 instances since August, spanning multiple states, in which federal judges issued “show cause” orders calling on the government to explain why it should not be held in contempt.
The orders came from judges in California, Texas, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and other states, according to the Times.
