A 61-year-old Minnesota resident at the center of a growing legal showdown was supposed to be back home in the Twin Cities. Instead, his lawyer says, federal immigration agents put him on a bus to the El Paso–Juárez border and left him in Mexico.
Emilio Pena Jimenez was ordered returned to Minnesota by a federal judge, but his attorney now wants the court to hold the government in contempt, accusing Immigration and Customs Enforcement of blowing past clear judicial instructions.
According to the Star Tribune, Pena Jimenez was arrested without a warrant at a Walmart in Apple Valley and taken to the Fort Snelling ICE field office. A U.S. district judge first blocked ICE from moving him out of Minnesota, then issued an order directing his immediate release in the state. His attorney, Joseph Kantor, says the government moved him anyway, beating the court’s deadline and effectively cutting the judge out of the equation.
Judge’s warnings put ICE on the spot
The case is unfolding against a tense backdrop in Minneapolis federal court, where judges have been openly pressing ICE on how it handles detainees during a recent enforcement surge.
Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz has publicly warned that ICE ignored dozens of judicial directives tied to stepped-up enforcement in the Twin Cities and at one point ordered Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to appear in court, Axios reported. Schiltz later canceled a scheduled contempt hearing after a detainee was released, but he made clear the court’s concerns about noncompliance had not gone away. That broader scrutiny now looms over the Pena Jimenez filings and could raise the stakes if the judge decides to pursue contempt.
Government filings reviewed by reporters say ICE transferred Pena Jimenez to a detention center in El Paso the same day he was arrested and that he signed an I-210 voluntary-departure form before leaving the United States, the Star Tribune reported. On Monday, ICE put him on a bus to the El Paso–Juárez crossing and released him into Juárez; his family later bought him a ticket to fly to Mexico City.
Kantor’s filing also claims Pena Jimenez was denied his regular diabetes medication and was blocked from calling an attorney during parts of his detention, allegations that could factor into how a judge views the government’s conduct.
High-stakes fight over a single form
At the heart of the dispute is that I-210 form. Kantor argues his client signed the paperwork under duress, without adequate translation and without a lawyer. The government counters that the I-210 shows Pena Jimenez chose voluntary departure.
Immigration practice alerts and agency field guidance describe the I-210 process as highly formal, with specific procedures and serious consequences. Advocates say judges typically look closely at whether a person signing such a form understood it and had access to counsel and interpretation. For background on how voluntary-departure paperwork is supposed to be handled, see AILA and ICE’s detention and deportation guidance.
Why Minnesota judges are watching ICE so closely
Minneapolis judges have been flooded with habeas petitions tied to the Metro Surge arrests, and some have sharply criticized how quickly detainees were moved out of state instead of being returned for hearings, the Washington Post reported. Advocates say what happened to Pena Jimenez — a court order to bring him back to Minnesota followed by a release in Mexico instead — captures the clash between aggressive enforcement and judicial oversight of due process.
Local attorneys are already pushing for consequences, including potential sanctions and orders that would require ICE to physically return detainees for court hearings instead of shuttling them away.
The contempt motion in Pena Jimenez’s case is still pending in Minnesota federal court, and the ruling could become an early test of how far judges are willing to go to enforce their orders during the current surge. Pena Jimenez remains outside U.S. custody while the courts decide whether the government’s actions crossed the legal line.
