A Minnesota judge has taken the extraordinary step of ordering the head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to face court and explain why his agency keeps ignoring court orders.
Declaring his "court's patience is at an end", Judge Patrick Schiltz said ICE acting director Todd Lyons must appear in person to give reasons why he should not be held in contempt.
"The court acknowledges that ordering the head of a federal agency to personally appear is an extraordinary step, but the extent of ICE's violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary," the judge wrote.
The case is playing out as the Trump administration responds to public backlash over mass-deportation operations in the Midwestern state, where two protesters have been killed by federal agents in separate recent incidents.
It also highlights an ongoing power struggle between the US courts and immigration authorities, which have been criticised by multiple judges for ignoring orders to afford due process to detained migrants.
The Trump administration frequently argues that those judges are biased activists.
Thousands of people have been jailed indefinitely, with no opportunity for a bond hearing to argue for release, since the US government implemented a policy to block the hearings in July, the American Civil Liberties Union says.
Mr Schiltz, who is Minnesota's chief federal judge, said ICE and the Department of Homeland Security had failed to comply with dozens of court orders in recent weeks.
His decision to order Mr Lyons to appear was prompted by ICE's refusal to follow a previous court order, issued on January 14, to either grant a bond hearing to an Ecuadorian detainee or release him.
"This Court has been extremely patient with respondents, even though respondents decided to send thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain aliens without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result."
The judge set a hearing for Friday, local time.
'We're going to de-escalate,' Trump says
US President Donald Trump signalled an intention to scale back the contentious immigration operation in Minneapolis after speaking with local leaders on Monday, local time, about how to better collaborate.
Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino and some of his agents are leaving the city. Border tsar Tom Homan, seen as a more measured operator, has been deployed by Mr Trump to take the lead on the ground.
"We're going to de-escalate a little bit," Mr Trump told Fox News on Tuesday.
Asked if the leadership changes represented a pullback, Mr Trump said: "I don't think it's a pullback, it's a little bit of a change."
"Everybody in this room that has a business, you know, you make little changes.
"Bovino is a pretty out there kind of guy, and in some cases that's good," he said. "Maybe that wasn't good here."
Earlier, Mr Trump said he wanted an "honourable and honest investigation" into the fatal shooting of protester Alex Pretti by a border patrol agent on the weekend. "We're doing a big investigation," he said, but did not outline specifics.
He also further distanced himself from incendiary rhetoric about Mr Pretti used by some of his administration officials after the shooting. His deputy chief-of-staff, Stephen Miller, called Mr Pretti a "would-be assassin" and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused him of "domestic terrorism".
In response to a reporter's question, Mr Trump said he did not think Mr Pretti was acting as an assassin, but added: "With that being said, you can't have guns, you can't walk in with guns."
Mr Pretti had a handgun, but video from the scene did not show him drawing it, and it appeared to have been taken from him before he was shot. Local police said he had a permit.
The president also backed Ms Noem. "I think she's doing a very good job," he said.
Democrats called on Mr Trump to sack her. The party's leaders in the House of Representatives said they would move to impeach Ms Noem if she was not sacked — a move unlikely to succeed because Republicans have a majority in Congress.
"The violence unleashed on the American people by the Department of Homeland Security must end forthwith," a joint statement from the party's House leaders said.
Two federal officers fired shots during encounter that killed Pretti, DHS says
Two federal officers fired shots during the encounter that killed Mr Pretti, a Customs and Border Protection official told Congress in a notice sent Tuesday, local time.
Officers tried to take Mr Pretti into custody and he resisted, leading to a struggle, according to a notification to Congress obtained by AP.
During the struggle, a Border Patrol agent yelled, "He's got a gun!" multiple times, the official said.
A Border Patrol officer and a CBP officer each fired Glock pistols, the notice said.
Investigators from CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility conducted the analysis based on a review of body-worn camera footage and agency documentation, the notice said.
Meanwhile, Ecuador's minister of foreign affairs filed a protest with the US Embassy after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents tried to enter the Ecuadorian consulate in Minneapolis without permission on Tuesday.
A video of the attempt on social media shows a consulate staffer running to the door to turn the ICE agents away, telling them, "This is the Ecuadorian consulate. You're not allowed to enter."
One ICE officer can be heard responding by threatening to "grab" the staffer if he touched the agent before agreeing to leave.
International law generally prohibits law enforcement authorities from entering foreign consulates or embassies without permission, though sometimes permission may be assumed granted for life-threatening emergencies, such as fires.
"Consulate officials immediately prevented the ICE officer from entering the consular building, thus ensuring the protection of the Ecuadorians who were present at the time and activating the emergency protocols issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility," the ministry wrote on X.
A "note of protest" was filed with the US Embassy in Ecuador so that similar attempts were not made at other consulates, the ministry said.
The State Department, Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
ABC/AP
