Minnesota US Attorney acknowledges 'mistakes that have been made' in unfulfilled immigration court orders

Sarah Nelson, Star Tribune on Mar 5, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s top federal prosecutor acknowledged “mistakes that have been made” during another contempt hearing Thursday over the U.S. government’s failure to abide by court orders to return detained immigrants’ belongings upon their release from custody.

U.S. District Judge John Tunheim ordered the hearing to hear from U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen and lawyers representing the immigrants who claim the U.S. government defied directives to immediately return their clients’ personal property after a ruling they’d been unlawfully detained.

The lawyers claimed their clients have yet to receive a range of their items, including work permits and consular identification cards. The failures have rendered many unable to work or drive, they said. Attorney Mary Kaczorek said her client, a father of two, cannot drive his son to medical appointments or therapy because his driver’s license has not been returned.

Rosen acknowledged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had misplaced some of the immigrants’ items, saying the agency sometimes had to prioritize releasing a person on time per a court’s orders over waiting to release the detainee along with their property. He said the U.S. government is willing to compensate the immigrants for their lost property. But the errors, he said, do not qualify as negligence.

“There are mistakes that have been made. But that is a far, far cry from contempt of court,” Rosen said.

Rosen said he expects the missteps returning property will no longer occur following the announced end of Operation Metro Surge. Detained immigrants are also no longer being sent to a facility in El Paso, Texas, he added, further reducing the chance of misplaced items.

Attorney Joshua Rissman, who said his client’s work permit hasn’t been returned, countered that the more than 600 agents who remain in Minnesota are still making arrests and the drawdown doesn’t negate the seriousness of property going missing.

“Those are very serious issues that need to be addressed,” Rissman said of the property.

Tunheim said early in the hearing that he would not decide on the matter of contempt Thursday.

The hearing comes after another federal judge called Rosen to his courtroom earlier this week over similar allegations of the U.S. government sidestepping orders in 28 immigration cases. Tensions flared almost immediately with fiery exchanges between U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan and Rosen. Rosen defended the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s handling of the cases, saying good faith efforts were made to comply.

“There was no contempt of court. Not in one single order,” he said. “There was no defiance, no disobedience, and that’s what’s required for contempt.”

Bryan told Rosen he hasn’t ruled out imprisonment as a consequence over the government’s alleged conduct but noted the outcome was unlikely. Bryan has yet to rule on the contempt findings.

Thursday’s hearing took a more measured tone compared to the exchanges between Rosen and Bryan.

Minnesota’s federal judiciary has grown increasingly frustrated with the Trump administration and U.S. Attorney’s Office in recent weeks over immigration-related court violations.

On Jan. 26, U.S. Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz summoned the acting director of ICE to appear in his courtroom, saying his “patience is at an end” over noncompliance with court orders that resulted in detainees being transferred to Texas despite orders for their immediate release in Minnesota. Schiltz backed down from the hearing after the U.S. government fulfilled his conditions, but said concerns remain.

“ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence,” Schiltz wrote.

On Feb. 18, U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino found a special assistant U.S. Attorney in civil contempt after determining the government did not return identification documents to an immigration previously ordered released in Minnesota with his property, saying she has “little confidence that petitioner’s property will be returned to him absent some sanction.”

Last week, Schiltz issued another scathing order that raised the possibility of starting to hold U.S. government officials in criminal contempt if the pattern of violations continues.

“Increasingly, this court has had to resort to using the threat of civil contempt to force ICE to comply with orders. This court is not aware of another occasion in the history of the United States in which a federal court has had to threaten contempt — again and again and again — to force the United States government to comply with court orders," he wrote. “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. One way or another, ICE will comply with this court’s orders.”