Overview
- U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino found Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Isihara in civil contempt and imposed a $500 daily fine until a detainee’s identification documents are returned.
- DHS reported after the hearing that it located Rigoberto Soto Jimenez’s IDs and is sending them to Minnesota, where he lives with his family.
- Provinzino had ordered Soto Jimenez released to Minnesota with all property by Feb. 13, yet ICE freed him in Texas without his IDs, leading to a night in a shelter before his return.
- Isihara apologized in court, citing an overwhelming docket of roughly 126 to 129 recent habeas cases, and acknowledged he “dropped the ball.”
- Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen denounced the contempt order as a “lawless abuse of judicial power,” while court officials noted such findings are rare, the sixth since 2020.