CONFLICT OF INTEREST EXPOSED: Bush-Appointed Judge Who Allegedly Let Don Lemon Walk and Threatens ICE Director With Contempt — Is a DONOR and VOLUNTEER for Pro-Illegal Alien Immigrant Law Center
Another day, another stunning example of the two-tier justice system.
Minnesota’s chief federal judge, Patrick J. Schiltz, a George W. Bush appointee, is now threatening to hold Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons in contempt of court over detainee releases tied to Operation Metro Surge, a Trump-era enforcement initiative that netted more than 3,000 arrests of criminal noncitizens in the Twin Cities.
But newly resurfaced information raises serious questions about whether Judge Schiltz should have ever touched the case.
Late Monday, Judge Schiltz issued an extraordinary order summoning ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons to appear in person in federal court in Minneapolis, warning that the court’s “patience is at an end.”
The judge accused ICE of repeatedly violating court orders by failing to release detainees quickly enough after habeas rulings, specifically citing the case of Juan Hugo Tobay Robles, an Ecuadorian national who entered the U.S. illegally as a minor in 1999.
Robles was arrested during Operation Metro Surge on January 6 and transferred to Texas.
Although a judge granted a habeas petition ordering his release on January 14, ICE did not immediately release him.
Robles was ultimately freed Tuesday afternoon, making it unlikely Lyons will now appear in court, according to NBC News.
According to reporting by Bill Melugin of Fox News, Judge Schiltz appears on a 2019 donor and volunteer list for the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, a radical pro-illegal alien organization that provides free legal services to illegal immigrants and routinely litigates against ICE and DHS.
NEW: @FoxNews has learned that Patrick J. Schiltz, the Minnesota federal judge who is threatening to hold ICE Director Todd Lyons in contempt of court & is ordering him to appear in court on Friday, appears in a 2019 list of donors & volunteers for the Immigrant Law Center of… pic.twitter.com/yBzst713Pf
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 27, 2026
CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Judge Schiltz is threatening the ICE Director while financing the legal resistance against ICE.
When confronted by Fox News, Judge Schiltz did not deny his financial ties to immigrant groups.
Instead, he openly admitted them.
“I have donated for many years to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. I have also donated for many years to Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. I believe that poor people should be able to get legal representation,” Schiltz told Fox News.
UPDATE: Judge Schiltz statement to @FoxNews:
“I have donated for many years to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota. I have also donated for many years to Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. I believe that poor people should be able to get legal representation.”
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 27, 2026
This is the same judge now positioning himself as the arbiter of ICE’s compliance, and the same judge who previously declined to find probable cause in cases involving far-left agitators, including Don Lemon, after a mob stormed a Minnesota church.
Per sources familiar, Judge Schiltz also declined probable cause on arrest warrants for Don Lemon and a handful of other protesters who stormed a church in Minnesota. He declined after federal magistrate Douglas Micko declined. 2/3 on appeals court also then declined.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 27, 2026
The courts were never meant to be a political weapon. But once again, the evidence is overwhelming.
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