Judge: ICE chief to appear in court on Friday

TT

Updated 16.59 | Published 14.54

 

Protests against immigration police ICE in Minneapolis on Monday. Photo: Adam Gray/AP/TT

The head of the US immigration police ICE must appear in court on Friday and explain why detained people were not handled in a legally secure manner, a federal judge in Minnesota has announced.

Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz questions why the federal task force sent by the Trump administration to Minneapolis has not interviewed the migrants it has arrested – despite calls to do so. He is threatening to take action against ICE chief Todd Lyons for contempt of court.

“This court has shown extreme patience with the defendants,” he writes, adding that this was despite the defendants “deciding to send thousands of agents to Minnesota” without any preparation for how to handle them legally.

In a separate case, a federal appeals court on Monday overturned a lower court decision that limited the methods – including pepper spray and detentions – that ICE agents can use when dealing with protesters, Fox News reports.

Following the shootings and unrest, President Trump has sent his border chief Tom Homan to Minnesota.