The U.S. Department of Justice has asked the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate a contempt order issued by U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino against an army lawyer handling an immigration case. The order aimed to enforce compliance with a habeas ruling for a detained Mexican man in Minnesota. DOJ argues the judge improperly held the lawyer's career captive to pressure ICE.
U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino, a Biden appointee, ordered in early February the release of Rigoberto Soto Jimenez from ICE custody in El Paso, Texas, and his return to Minnesota, where he has lived since 2018 with his lawful permanent resident spouse. The judge deemed Jimenez unlawfully detained. After his release without his Minnesota driver's license, Mexican Consulate ID, or transport back to Minnesota, more than a week passed without full compliance. During a February 18 show-cause hearing, special assistant U.S. attorney Matthew Isihara, from the Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps and filling in amid office shortages, apologized, saying the matter fell 'through the cracks' while he managed 130 cases during Operation Metro Surge and resignations at the U.S. Attorney's Office. Provinzino held Isihara in civil contempt, imposing a $500 daily coercive fine starting February 20 until compliance was confirmed. The next day, ICE returned Jimenez's property, purging the contempt without any fines paid, as noted in DOJ's appellate filing. On Monday, DOJ petitioned the 8th Circuit to overturn the order, calling it 'manifestly improper.' The filing states Provinzino 'held' Isihara's career 'captive' and subjected him to potential 'permanent professional consequences' to coerce ICE, an agency he does not control. 'Mr. Isihara and his legal career were wrongfully held captive to induce ICE's compliance,' DOJ asserted. The department urged the appeals court to prevent district judges from using personal-capacity contempt against government attorneys as a 'weapon' to influence agencies like ICE. This follows similar tensions, including a DHS attorney previously requesting contempt to rest and the chief judge criticizing DOJ superiors for creating impossible situations.
