Judge orders U.S. government to return wrongly deported man to Minnesota

Sarah Nelson, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Mar 2, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. government to bring back a wrongly deported man to the United States, delivering another blow in the courts to the Trump administration’s illegal immigration crackdown in Minnesota.

Emilio Pena Jimenez was taken to Juárez, Mexico, earlier this month despite two court orders for his release in Minnesota. The U.S. government argued he voluntarily agreed to leave the country a couple of days before a court order was filed by a judge mandating his return to Minnesota.

In a 17-page order filed Monday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan denied the federal claims, saying Pena Jimenez may have been denied access to lawyers before signing the forms, and the documents were also not translated into Spanish.

“In this record, Emilio P. did not knowingly or intelligently enter into the voluntary departure agreement,” Bryan said.

Bryan ordered the U.S. government to return Pena Jimenez to the United States before June 1 and pay for his return trip to Minnesota. His travel documents must also be given back, and the U.S. government cannot redetain him upon his re-entry to the U.S, Bryan said.

Pena Jimenez is one of hundreds of immigrants who have filed what’s known as habeas or wrongful detention petitions challenging their detainment as part of the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge.

One thousand such cases have been filed in the courts since the Dec. 1 start of the illegal immigration crackdown. The overwhelming caseload has resulted in rebukes and sometimes contempt hearings by Minnesota’s federal judiciary against the Trump administration and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, whose personnel are buckling under the flood of cases.

Bryan is holding a contempt hearing March 3 for a combined 28 wrongful detention cases, including Pena Jimenez’s petition, for U.S. government officials to explain the violations of court orders. Bryan has summoned Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen; the civil division head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office; and a representative for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to appear for the hearing.

Pena Jimenez, a Mexican citizen who lives in Lakeville, came to the U.S. in 2000 and owns a tile installation business, according to court records. ICE agents arrested Pena Jimenez without a warrant on Jan. 24 while he was at a Walmart in Apple Valley, his petition said. Pena Jimenez filed his habeas case Jan. 30. That same day, Bryan halted ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from transferring him out of Minnesota while his case was litigated and ordered Pena Jimenez’s release.

By then, Pena Jimenez was already out of Minnesota. ICE transferred Pena Jimenez to a detention center in El Paso, Texas, on the same day of his arrest, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a court filing. The attorneys said Pena Jimenez had signed the “Form I-210” signing off on his removal from the country on Jan. 28. On Feb. 2, he was bused to Juárez and released.

“Thus, the undisputed record makes clear that Respondents did not comply with the Court’s lawful orders to return Emilio P. to Minnesota and to release him,” Bryan said.