发布时间：2026年2月19日，美国东部时间下午1:05 / 更新时间：2026年2月19日，美国东部时间下午2:19 / 来源：CNN
明尼苏达州一名联邦法官因“公然违抗法院命令”，对一名特朗普政府律师处以民事藐视罪。该案件涉及今年早些时候在当地移民打击行动中被卷入的一名非公民。
美国地区法官劳拉·普罗维诺（Laura Provinzino）周三作出的藐视裁定，似乎标志着唐纳德·特朗普总统第二任期内联邦律师首次面临法院下令的制裁。
这一举措发生之际，双城及其他地区的法官对政府多次违反法院命令（尤其是在快速推进的移民案件中）的行为越来越不耐烦。
美国边境巡逻队特工在明尼苏达州明尼阿波利斯的亨利·惠普尔主教联邦大楼外站岗
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查利·特里巴勒奥/法新社/盖蒂图片社
这位前总统乔·拜登任命的法官表示，从周五开始，律师马修·伊西哈拉（Matthew Isihara）必须每天支付500美元，直到该移民获得身份文件——法官下令将这些文件在他上周从移民和海关执法局（ICE）设施获释时归还给他，但最初并未归还。
在普罗维诺宣布制裁时，她驳回了伊西哈拉的辩解，称此次违规并非故意，而是由于“地铁行动”（Operation Metro Surge）引发的“案件堆积如山”导致案件处理出现疏漏。
“政府人员不足和案件量过大是其自身造成的问题，绝不能成为公然违抗法院命令的理由，”法官在周三的听证会上表示（根据CNN获得的庭审记录）。
“我认为我不需要再做额外的解释。很明显需要采取什么行动，”她补充道，“申请人必须立即拿到他的文件，如果他的律师在明天之后仍未收到，每天将处以500美元的制裁。”
CNN已联系司法部寻求置评。
伊西哈拉是一名军事律师，前往双城协助司法部处理大量非公民提起的移民案件——这些案件要求从ICE拘留所获释，导致当地团队不堪重负，进而引发其他案件的违规问题。
普罗维诺于2月9日下令政府释放这名墨西哥籍男子（自2018年起居住在明尼苏达州），认定其被非法拘留。她的命令要求该男子最迟于2月13日在明尼苏达州获释，并将其所有财产归还给他。但法官表示，政府以三种不同方式无视了这一命令，包括将他释放到得克萨斯州，且未归还身份文件。
“在法院审查记录时，这一情况非常令人不安，”法官在列举各项违规行为时表示。她随后指出，伊西哈拉和他的同事直到当天上午才开始处理此案。
“这是一个能力问题，法官大人，这是根本问题，”伊西哈拉表示，“这并非故意违抗法院的行为。”
明尼苏达州的普罗维诺及其同事近几周一直威胁要对司法部律师或移民官员处以民事藐视罪，因为“地铁行动”引发的数十起案件中的违规问题不断累积。而此次金钱制裁代表了一个转折点。
“我们看到其他案件中，地区法官开启了更正式的藐视程序，但这是我们首次看到法院直接动用强制力以迫使立即遵守法院命令，”CNN法律分析师、乔治敦大学法学院教授史蒂夫·弗拉德克（Steve Vladeck）表示。
“律师必须为其当事人不遵守法院命令付出代价的这一概念并不新鲜，但在当前政府任期内，这可能早已 overdue（迟到），”弗拉德克补充道。
伊西哈拉向法官的解释，与本月早些时候另一名特朗普政府律师的说法类似——该律师因在双城处理的移民案件中多次违反法院命令而陷入困境。
该律师朱莉·勒（Julie Le）在告诉法官违规是由于人员短缺和确保命令执行的流程不完善后，被调离明尼苏达州岗位。
“是的，目前的流程很糟糕。我正在努力改进，”她说，“这个系统很糟糕。这份工作很糟糕。”
移民案件中的合规问题并不仅限于明尼苏达州。
周三，巴尔的摩一名特朗普任命的法官审查了联邦移民机构违反2024年和解协议的指控——该协议旨在保护一些有庇护申请待审的年轻移民免受驱逐。
根据协议，至少有几名受保护的年轻移民在去年被驱逐前，还未获得举行庇护听证会的机会。
美国地区法官斯蒂芬妮·加拉格尔（Stephanie Gallagher）未当庭就移民律师要求对政府处以民事藐视罪的请求作出裁决，而是表示将安排听证会，在司法部律师无法回答为何驱逐这些移民的问题后，传唤国土安全部官员出庭作证。
司法部承认超过50起法院命令违规事件
新泽西州，上周一名高级司法部官员向当地联邦法官表示，自12月初以来，在该州提起的数百起移民案件中，政府已发现超过50起违反法院命令的情况。
这一统计是由新泽西州美国检察官办公室的24名律师完成的，此前法官迈克尔·法比阿尔（Michael Farbiarz）发现政府在一名质疑拘留的印度籍男子案件中违反了其命令。法官曾指示官员在该男子案件审理期间不得将其转移出新泽西州，但他最终还是被空运至得克萨斯州。
司法部官员乔丹·福克斯（Jordan Fox）告诉法官，许多违规行为发生在移民质疑拘留时，即使法官明确禁止转移，他们仍被从一个设施移至另一个设施。
福克斯称这些违规是“偶然的”，由于“向相关ICE官员传达法院命令的后勤延误”或“对法院命令的行政监督不足”。
其他违规包括错过提交期限，或未在法官规定的时间内为移民举行保释听证会。
法比阿尔（拜登任命）仍在考虑如何处理这名印度籍男子的案件，但周二他明确表示，对律师团队确认的违规行为感到不满。
“这低于相关标准，”他在命令中写道，要求美国检察官办公室在未来几天解释如何确保此类违规不再发生，“司法命令绝不应被违反，而且这种情况非常罕见，尤其是在联邦官员中。”
本文已更新更多细节。
Minnesota judge holds federal attorney in civil contempt, a first in Trump’s second term
Published Feb 19, 2026, 1:05 PM ET / Updated Feb 19, 2026, 2:19 PM ET / Source: CNN
A federal judge in Minnesota held a Trump administration attorney in civil contempt for “flagrant disobedience of court orders” in the case of a noncitizen swept up in the immigration crackdown there earlier this year.
The contempt finding by US District Judge Laura Provinzino on Wednesday appears to mark the first time a federal attorney has faced court-ordered sanctions during President Donald Trump’s second term.
It comes as judges in the Twin Cities and elsewhere have grown increasingly impatient with the administration’s repeated violations of court orders, particularly in fast-moving immigration cases.
US Border Patrol agents stand guard at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 8, 2026.
Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images
The appointee of former President Joe Biden said that starting Friday, the lawyer, Matthew Isihara, must pay $500 each day that the immigrant is not given back identification documents that weren’t initially returned to him when he was released last week from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, as she had ordered.
As Provinzino imposed the sanction, she brushed aside Isihara’s attempt to explain that the violation wasn’t intentional, but instead a result of the case slipping through the cracks amid an “enormous volume of cases” stemming from Operation Metro Surge.
“The government’s understaffing and high caseload is a problem of its own making and absolutely does not justify flagrant disobedience of court orders,” the judge said during a hearing Wednesday, according to a transcript obtained by CNN.
“I don’t believe I need to do additional hand-holding on this. I think it’s clear what needs to happen,” she added. “Petitioner needs to get his documents immediately, and there will be a $500 sanction any day beyond tomorrow that they are not received by his attorney.”
CNN has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
Isihara is a military attorney who went to the Twin Cities to help the Justice Department handle a flood of immigration cases brought by noncitizens seeking to be released from ICE custody, which had overwhelmed its team on the ground, leading to non-compliance issues in other cases.
Provinzino on February 9 ordered the government to release the man, a Mexican national who had lived in Minnesota since 2018, after she determined that he was being unlawfully detained. Her order mandated that he be released in Minnesota no later than February 13 and that all his property be handed over to him. But the government flouted that order in three different ways, the judge said, including by releasing him in Texas, where he was being held, and not giving him back his identification documents.
“It’s very troubling, in the court’s review of this record,” the judge said as she ticked through the various violations. She noted later that Isihara and his colleagues hadn’t done any work on the case until that morning.
“It’s a capacity issue, your honor, and that’s the fundamental underlying issue,” Isihara said. “It’s not any willful attempt to defy the court.”
Provinzino and her colleagues on the bench in Minnesota had regularly been threatening to hold Justice Department lawyers or immigration officials in civil contempt in recent weeks as non-compliance issues in dozens of cases stemming from Operation Metro Surge continued to add up. But the monetary sanctions represent a turning point.
“We’ve seen other cases in which district judges have opened more formal contempt proceedings, but this is the first time we’ve seen a court directly use its coercive power to try to compel immediate compliance with a court order,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN legal analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
“The notion that lawyers must themselves pay a price for their client’s non-compliance with court orders is hardly new, but it may be long overdue in the context of the current administration,” Vladeck added.
Isihara’s explanation to the judge mirrored similar statements made earlier this month by a different Trump administration lawyer who found herself in the hot seat over repeated violations of court orders in immigration cases she was handling in the Twin Cities.
That lawyer, Julie Le, was removed from her post in Minnesota after she told Judge Jerry Blackwell the violations were the result of both a personnel shortage and lackluster procedures intended to ensure orders are followed.
“And, yes, procedure in place right now sucks. I’m trying to fix it,” she said. “The system sucks. This job sucks.”
Compliance issues in immigration cases are not limited to Minnesota.
In Baltimore on Wednesday, a Trump-appointed judge scrutinized claims that federal immigration agencies had violated a 2024 settlement agreement meant to protect some young migrants with pending asylum claims from being deported.
At least a handful of the young migrants covered by the settlement were deported last year before they were given the opportunity to have their asylum claims heard, as guaranteed by the agreement.
US District Judge Stephanie Gallagher did not rule from the bench on a request from lawyers for the migrants for the government to be held in civil contempt. Instead, she said she would be scheduling an evidentiary hearing to hear live testimony from Department of Homeland Security officials after a DOJ lawyer was not able to answer her questions about why those migrants were deported.
DOJ found more than 50 violations of court orders
In New Jersey, a high-ranking Justice Department official told a federal judge there last week the government had identified more than 50 instances of violations of court orders across hundreds of immigration cases brought in the state since early December.
The accounting was undertaken by two dozen lawyers with the US Attorney’s Office in New Jersey after Judge Michael Farbiarz found that the government had violated his order in the case of an Indian national challenging his detention. The judge had directed officials to not transfer the man out of New Jersey while his case played out, but he was nonetheless flown to Texas.
The DOJ official, Jordan Fox, told the judge that many of the violations occurred when a migrant challenging their detention was moved from one facility to another even after a judge had expressly prohibited such a change.
Fox said the violations were accidental and due to “logistical delays in communicating the court order” to the relevant ICE officials or “administrative oversight of the court order.”
The other violations included missing filing deadlines or not giving an immigrant a bond hearing within the timeframe outlined by a judge.
Farbiarz, a Joe Biden appointee, is still weighing what to do in the case of the Indian national, but he made clear Tuesday that he is unhappy with the noncompliance identified by the lawyers.
“This falls below the relevant standards,” he wrote in an order directing the US Attorney’s Office to explain in coming days how it will work to ensure the pattern isn’t repeated. “Judicial orders should never be violated. And they very rarely are, especially not by federal officials.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
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