发布时间：2026年2月10日，美国东部时间凌晨5:00 / 作者：德文·科尔
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美国明尼苏达州明尼阿波利斯市亨利·惠普尔主教联邦大楼外，美国公民及移民服务局（ICE）特工于2月4日撤离。
约翰·摩尔/盖蒂图片社
在明尼苏达州因总统唐纳德·特朗普的移民打击行动引发的约两打案件中，美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）审查发现，由民主党和共和党任命的联邦法官不得不使用“藐视法庭”和“不遵守”等措辞，以引起政府对法庭命令的回应。
截至目前，明尼苏达州地区尚未有任何法官因与“地铁行动”相关的案件对机构官员或司法部律师处以民事藐视法庭罪或施加制裁。但威胁的数量之多不容忽视。
许多处罚威胁源于法官认定移民被非法逮捕，必须立即释放的案件。其他合规问题则在移民和海关执法局（ICE）释放非公民时出现，这些非公民被附加了逮捕前未有的条件，激怒了未批准此类限制的法官。
“这显然站不住脚，”前总统乔·拜登任命的劳拉·普罗维诺法官上月下旬对一名高级政府律师表示，“我不能继续让（联邦检察官）违反非常重要的命令……如果有人应该被释放，就必须这样做。”
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这些潜在处罚凸显了联邦司法机构与辩护特朗普政府行动的律师之间的紧张关系。司法机构近几周不得不处理大量移民声称被非法拘留的案件，而这些律师往往对其机构客户的行动知之甚少，也难以跟上诉讼节奏。
通常，法官会要求政府“说明理由”，即解释为何不应将律师或机构官员视为藐视法庭。但在某些情况下，代表被卷入执法突袭行动的移民的律师会在合规问题出现时请求法官施加制裁。
“联邦政府官员在法庭上面临藐视法庭制裁的情况非常罕见，”曾担任美国公民自由联盟（ACLU）法律主任的乔治敦法学院教授大卫·科尔表示，“然而，在本届政府任内，这种情况几乎已成常规。”
科尔称，各种藐视法庭的威胁“是为了向政府施压，迫使其遵守法庭命令”，“一旦他们服从法庭命令，这些制裁的目的就实现了。”
事实上，尽管一些处罚威胁仍悬在政府头上，但在个案中，随着特朗普“地铁行动”前线的司法部律师纠正法庭指出的问题，这些问题往往不了了之。
司法部发言人娜塔莉·巴尔达萨雷在给CNN的声明中坚称，政府“正在遵守法庭命令”，并指责在明尼苏达州对政府行动提出异议的法官。
“如果（所谓的）‘流氓法官’在审理案件时遵守法律，并尊重政府妥善准备案件的义务，就不会出现‘大量人身保护令案件积压’或对国土安全部服从命令的担忧，”她说，“目前被拘留的非法移民数量直接是本届政府加强边境安全政策以保障美国人民安全的结果。”
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“费力催促机构纠正错误”
上个月，明尼苏达州有超过400起移民在“地铁行动”中被捕的案件。CNN审查了该州联邦法院首席法官斥责政府违反近100项司法法令时重点指出的部分案件。
“移民和海关执法局（ICE）的不遵守程度几乎肯定被大大低估了，”帕特里克·希尔特兹法官最近在一份轻蔑的命令中写道，该命令列出了74起其同事认定存在违规行为的案件，“ICE在2026年1月可能违反的法庭命令比某些联邦机构在其整个存在期间违反的还要多。”
上周，这一问题在明尼苏达州圣保罗市的法庭上完全暴露出来。负责政府不断增加的案件工作量的律师朱莉·勒向联邦法官抱怨，“费力催促机构纠正某些案件中的错误就像拔牙一样困难”。
“修复一个系统，一个破损的系统，我没有魔法按钮可以按。我没有权力或声音去改变，”勒说，“我只能在我拥有的能力和范围内行事。”
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拜登任命的美国地区法官杰里·布莱克韦尔将勒和她的一位同事传唤到法庭，解释为何不应因少数案件中反复违反法庭命令而对他们处以藐视法庭罪。
“继续拘留并不合法，仅仅因为遵守释放命令在行政上有困难，或者因为一项行动超出了政府合法执行的能力，”布莱克韦尔告诉两位律师。
布莱克韦尔没有当庭宣布决定，而勒随后已离开她1月初在明尼苏达州担任的临时职位。
“民事部门没有足够资源处理此事”
在CNN审查的案件中，法官们同样批评了政府的合规问题，尽管他们没有实施处罚。
前总统比尔·克林顿任命的约翰·R·唐海姆法官上月下旬表示，在一名萨尔瓦多公民质疑其被拘留的案件中，政府“故意违反”了两项法庭命令。
在官员未按唐海姆的命令将该男子从另一州带回明尼苏达州参加保释听证会之后，法官指示政府改为将他空运回明尼苏达州，并在他抵达后立即释放。
直到1月28日，该男子才被送回明尼苏达州，比原定返回日期晚了四天。但法官最终驳回了其律师要求认定政府藐视法庭并施加制裁的请求。
“尽管（政府）故意违反了法庭命令，”唐海姆在简短的命令中写道，但他感谢司法部的沟通以及其合规努力，“因此，法院拒绝施加任何制裁。”
在另一起案件中，一名法官在考虑对一名卷入移民打击行动的墨西哥公民提起藐视法庭诉讼时，揭示了其面临的严峻处境。
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多诺万·弗兰克法官曾提出，如果移民官员不保证已遵守其释放该男子的命令，就可能面临藐视法庭的对决。该男子被特工拘留后，被送往当地医院，伤势危及生命。法官称，医院记录显示该男子告诉工作人员“他被联邦特工拖拽并虐待”。
1月23日，克林顿任命的弗兰克法官命令ICE特工解开该男子在医院病床上的束缚并离开该设施——特工此前似乎一直在那里试图继续拘留他。
但四天过去了，政府仍未更新情况。1月28日，弗兰克威胁称，如果官员不提供该男子已被释放的保证，将对其提起藐视法庭诉讼。最终，政府向法院表示已遵守命令，问题得以解决。
与此同时，1月28日在另一个法庭，普罗维诺法官严厉质问明尼阿波利斯联邦检察官办公室的一名高级官员，为何其办公室多次违反她的命令，并明确表示，如果再出现任何合规问题，该州最高联邦检察官需亲自出庭解释为何不应被处以藐视法庭罪。
法官此前因多次要求一名被她下令释放的被拘留者信息未获回应而召开听证会。该墨西哥公民在应被释放26小时后仍被拘留。
“你可能恰好是本办公室第七个违反我的命令的人，”她告诉美国助理检察官弗里德里希·西克特，“你们采取了哪些措施，或者美国检察官办公室和ICE正在采取哪些措施来确保未来的合规？”
西克特告诉法官，部分问题在于其办公室根本没有足够资源管理自移民突袭开始以来带来的数百起案件。
“民事部门目前没有足够的资源来处理这个问题，”他说。
在法庭文件中被称为“胡安”的案件中，奥巴马前总统任命的法官苏珊·纳尔逊指出，政府将他的释放截止日期拖延了五天。她说，如果最终未实现合规，她将举行藐视法庭听证会，但在这些计划公布后，该男子被释放，法官表示听证会“不再必要”。
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“大楼背后的烈火”
至少有一位监督明尼苏达州案件的特朗普任命法官也在处理其案件中的合规问题。埃里克·托斯特鲁德法官正在考虑墨西哥公民律师提出的赔偿制裁请求。法官已表示可能在未来几周就该请求举行听证会。
至于希尔特兹，这位前总统乔治·W·布什任命的法官上月传唤ICE负责人托德·莱昂斯解释为何不应因其监督案件中的命令违反行为而被处以藐视法庭罪。
听证会举行前几天，在一名移民拘留者最终按法官命令被释放后，希尔特兹放弃了威胁。但法官明确表示，他并未完全取消藐视法庭的威胁。
“法院警告ICE，未来不遵守法庭命令可能导致要求莱昂斯或其他政府官员亲自出庭的进一步说明理由令，”希尔特兹在1月28日的命令中写道。
明尼阿波利斯移民律师大卫·威尔逊表示，希尔特兹对政府的4页抨击代表了“法院系统明显受挫的临界点”。其律所处理了数百起与“地铁行动”相关的案件，其中包括许多合规问题案件。
“显然，大楼后面有一团火在燃烧，”他说。
Judges are regularly threatening contempt charges against the DOJ in immigration cases
PUBLISHED Feb 10, 2026, 5:00 AM ET / By Devan Cole
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ICE agents depart the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on February 4.
John Moore/Getty Images
In some two dozen cases stemming from President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota that CNN has reviewed, federal judges appointed to the bench by Democrats and Republicans have had to use terms like “contempt” and “noncompliance” to get the government’s attention to respond to court orders.
To date, it doesn’t appear that any judge in the District of Minnesota has held an agency official or Justice Department attorney in civil contempt of court or imposed sanctions in cases related to Operation Metro Surge. But the sheer number of threats is significant.
Many of the punishment threats have arisen in cases where judges concluded that an immigrant was unlawfully arrested and must immediately be released. Other compliance issues have bubbled up when Immigration and Customs Enforcement releases a noncitizen with certain conditions that they weren’t subject to prior to their arrest, enraging a judge who never gave permission to impose such constraints.
“This is clearly not tenable,” Judge Laura Provinzino, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, told one top government attorney late last month. “I can’t continue to have (federal prosecutors) violating really important orders … If somebody should be released, that has to happen.”
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The potential punishments highlight the smoldering tension between the federal judiciary, which has had to handle scores of cases brought by immigrants claiming they were unlawfully detained in recent weeks, and the lawyers defending the Trump administration’s operation, who often have little insight into the actions of their agency clients or the ability to sufficiently keep up with the pace of litigation.
Often, a judge is the one ordering the government to “show cause,” or explain, why the court should not hold lawyers or agency officials in contempt. But in some instances, attorneys representing immigrants swept up in the enforcement blitz have asked the judge to impose sanctions when compliance issues have occurred.
“It’s very rare for federal government officials to face contempt sanctions in court,” said David Cole, a Georgetown Law professor who served as the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “And yet, it’s become almost routine under this administration.”
The various contempt threats are “about putting pressure on the government to comply with the court order,” Cole said. “Once they obey the court order, the purpose of those sanctions is over.”
Indeed, though some of the punishment threats are still looming over the government, in case after case, the issue has fizzled out after DOJ attorneys on the frontlines of Trump’s Operation Metro Surge rectified problems identified by the court.
Natalie Baldassarre, a Justice Department spokesperson, insisted in a statement to CNN that the administration “is complying with court orders” and attacked the judges taking issue with the government’s actions in Minnesota.
“If rogue judges followed the law in adjudicating cases and respected the government’s obligation to properly prepare cases, there wouldn’t be an ‘overwhelming’ habeas caseload or concern over DHS following orders,” she said. “The level of illegal aliens currently detained is a direct result of this administration’s strong border security policies to keep the American people safe.”
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‘Pulling teeth’ to get agencies to correct errors
More than 400 cases were brought in Minnesota last month by immigrants who were arrested amid Operation Metro Surge. CNN reviewed a subset of them that were highlighted by the chief judge of the state’s federal court as he chided the administration for violating nearly 100 judicial edicts.
“The extent of ICE’s noncompliance is almost certainly substantially understated,” Judge Patrick Schiltz recently wrote in a scornful order that included a list of 74 cases in which his colleagues on the bench had found violations. “ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
The problem was on full view last week when Julie Le, one of the attorneys managing the government’s ballooning caseload, unloaded on a federal judge in St. Paul about how it’s like “pulling teeth” to get agencies to correct errors made in some cases.
“Fixing a system, a broken system, I don’t have a magic button to do it. I don’t have the power or the voice to do it,” Le said. “I only can do it within the ability and the capacity that I have.”
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US District Judge Jerry Blackwell, a Biden appointee, had hauled Le and one of her colleges into court to explain why they shouldn’t be held in contempt for repeated violations of court orders in a handful of cases.
“Continued detention is not lawful just because compliance with release orders is administratively difficult or because an operation has expanded beyond the government’s capacity to execute it lawfully,” Blackwell told the two lawyers.
Blackwell didn’t announce a decision from the bench, and Le has subsequently left her temporary post in Minnesota, which she took on in early January.
‘The civil division does not have the resources to handle this’
In the cases reviewed by CNN, judges have similarly skewered the administration over its compliance problem, even as they’ve stopped short of imposing a punishment.
Judge John R. Tunheim, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, said late last month that the government had “willfully violated” two of his orders in the case of a Salvadoran national who was challenging his detention.
After officials failed to bring the man back from another state where he was being detained to have a bond hearing, as Tunheim ordered, the judge directed the government to instead fly him back to Minnesota and release him immediately upon his arrival.
The man wasn’t returned to Minnesota until January 28, four days after he was supposed to land back in the state. But the judge ultimately rejected a request by his attorneys to find the government in contempt and impose sanctions against it for the repeated violations.
“Although the (government) willfully violated the court’s orders,” Tunheim wrote in a brief order, he said he appreciated the communication from DOJ and its efforts to comply. “The court therefore declines to impose any sanctions.”
In another case, a judge laid bare a dire situation facing a Mexican national caught up in the immigration crackdown as he moved toward potential contempt proceedings.
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Judge Donovan Frank had raised the possibility of a contempt showdown if immigration officials didn’t provide assurances that they had complied with his order to release the man, who had been detained by agents and subsequently brought to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. The cause of the man’s injuries were unknown, according to the judge, who said that hospital records reflected that the man told its staff “he was dragged and mistreated by federal agents.”
On January 23, the Clinton appointee ordered ICE agents to unshackle the man from his hospital bed and leave the facility, where they had been positioned in an apparent effort to keep him detained.
But four full days passed without an update from the government, prompting Frank on January 28 to threaten officials with contempt proceedings if they didn’t provide assurances that the man had been released. The issue was ultimately diffused after the government told the court that it had complied with its order.
Meanwhile, in a different courtroom on January 28, Provinzino grilled a high-ranking official in the federal prosecutor’s office in Minneapolis about why his office had regularly violated orders from her and made clear that if she saw any further compliance issues, the top federal prosecutor in the state would need to personally appear before her to explain why he shouldn’t be held in contempt.
The judge had called the hearing after saying that repeated demands from her for information about a detainee she had ordered released went unanswered. The man, a Mexican national, had also remained in custody 26 hours after he was supposed to have been let out.
“You would just happen to be, I think, the seventh one in the office who’s violated one of my orders,” she told Assistant US Attorney Friedrich Siekert. “What steps are you putting in place or is the United States Attorney’s Office and ICE putting in place to ensure compliance on a prospective basis?”
Siekert told the judge that part of the issue was due to the fact that his office simply didn’t have the resources needed to manage the hundreds of cases brought since the immigration blitz began.
“The civil division does not have the resources to handle this right now,” he said.
And in the case of a man referred to in court papers as “Juan,” Judge Susan Nelson, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, noted that the government blew past her deadline for his release by five days. She said she would hold a contempt hearing if compliance wasn’t eventually achieved, but after those plans were announced, the man was released and the judge said the hearing was “no longer necessary.”
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‘A fire burning behind the building’
At least one of the Trump appointees overseeing cases in Minnesota is also grappling with compliance issues in the cases they’re handling. Judge Eric Tostrud is weighing a request from attorneys for a Mexican national for compensatory sanctions in his detention case. The judge has raised the possibility of holding a hearing over the request in the coming weeks.
For Schiltz’s part, the appointee of former President George W. Bush had summoned the head of ICE, Todd Lyons, before him last month to explain why he shouldn’t be held in contempt for violations of orders in cases he’s overseeing.
Days before the hearing was set to take place, Schiltz backed down from his threat after an immigrant detainee was finally released from custody, as the judge had ordered. But the judge made clear that he wasn’t completely lifting the contempt threat.
“The court warns ICE that future noncompliance with court orders may result in future show-cause orders requiring the personal appearances of Lyons or other government officials,” Schiltz wrote in the January 28 order.
David Wilson, an immigration attorney in Minneapolis whose firm has been handling hundreds of cases stemming from Operation Metro Surge, including many where compliance issues have arisen, said that Schiltz’s 4-page broadside against the government represented a “boiling point” for a visibly frustrated court system.
“There’s clearly a fire burning behind the building,” he said.