CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Two federal judges in Iowa have sharply criticized government officials for repeatedly violating the law in immigration cases, with one Iowa ICE enforcement officer held in contempt for “astonishing conduct” and willfully violating a court order.

The two cases, each handled by a different federal judge, involve Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who have moved detainees out of Iowa jails and the court’s jurisdiction while the individuals have pending immigration cases before the court.

The judge in one of the two cases took aim at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa, saying “the court expects better” of assistant U.S. attorneys who, she said, should be working in the interests of justice. The judge also criticized ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for what she called their “unprecedented disregard for court orders and continued failure to follow the law.”

In the second case, the chief judge of the Southern District of Iowa referenced ICE’s “record of defying court orders,” and warned the federal government that “noncitizens are not bargaining chips to be shifted from district to district as litigation strategy.”

ICE officer held in contempt

The first of the two Iowa cases involves Pardeep Saini, 22, of Sacramento, California, who was pulled over by Iowa State Patrol Trooper Aaron Taylor in February 2026 along Interstate 80 in Jasper County. Taylor instructed Saini to go to a weigh station where, according to court records, ICE officials were waiting.

At the weigh station, Taylor ticketed Saini for failing to stop at the weigh station prior to being pulled over and turned him over to ICE officials, who arrested him on the grounds that his student visa had been revoked. Saini was then taken to the Polk County Jail and detained.

Saini’s attorney filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, seeking his client’s immediate release, and on March 19, 2026, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger ordered the U.S. Department of Justice to show cause as to why Saini was not being illegally detained. At the time, Ebinger also ordered federal officials to refrain from moving Saini out of the Southern District of Iowa while the case was pending.

Without notifying the court, ICE officials then transferred Saini from the Polk County Jail in Iowa to a detention facility in McCook, Nebraska. Court records show that ICE Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer Quintin Erdman later testified that while there was a general understanding that individuals such as Saini would not be transferred out of a judicial district while their court case was pending, ICE officers didn’t place a hold on those detainees to prevent their removal and instead merely noted the pending case in the detainees’ file.

According to court records, Erdman testified that while ICE Deportation Officer Daniel Archer would have been aware of Saini’s pending court case, Archer nevertheless approved Saini’s transfer to Nebraska on April 1, 2026 — almost two weeks after the court issued its order blocking any such transfer.

Erdman testified he became aware of the violation of the court’s order on April 9 or 10, 2026, and acknowledged that he did not notify the court or consult with the U.S. Attorney’s Office on the issue. Instead, he testified, he twice sought guidance from ICE’s own Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, which advised him both times to keep Saini in Nebraska.

Court records show that Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kahl became aware of the violation when Saini filed court papers indicating his presence at a bond hearing held in Nebraska. On June 11, 2026, two days after learning of the violation, Kahl disclosed to the Judge Ebinger that Saini had been transferred from Iowa to Nebraska, but he did so only in a footnote in a court filing.

In reviewing the matter, Ebinger stated that Erdman had known of the violation of the court’s order for more than two months without ever disclosing it to the U.S. Attorney’s Office or to her.

“Astonishingly,” Ebinger noted, at the time of a June 23, 2026, hearing in Saini’s case, “Saini remained in Nebraska despite Erdman becoming aware of the violation of the court’s order on April 9 or 10, 2026, (and) Assistant U.S. Attorney Kahl becoming aware of the violation of the court’s order on June 9, 2026.”

Judge cites ‘unprecedented disregard for court orders’

In her court order responding to the government’s actions, Ebinger observed that “this is not the first time the federal respondents have violated a court order to keep immigration detainees in this district,” adding that they had violated court orders regarding immigration detainee transfers “in matters before every district judge in this district over the past two months … And these violations are not isolated to this district. Courts across the country are struggling with an unprecedented disregard for court orders and continued failure to follow the law.”

Ebinger ruled that Erdman had “knowingly and willfully violated the court’s order” and, rather than take corrective action by returning Saini to Iowa, he had instead perpetuated the violation. “He made no effort, at any point, to bring his agency into compliance,” Ebinger found.

Ebinger concluded that while Erdman was given “plainly erroneous advice” by ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, that did not “relieve Erdman of his duty to follow the law, comply with court orders, and comport with his ethical obligations to the court, his agency, and immigration detainees.”

Ebinger said an aggravating factor was Erdman’s action in another recent case involving a different ICE detainee, Abhishek Kumar, who, like Saini, was detained as part of “Operation ICE Wall” involving ICE and the Iowa State Patrol.

Court records show that in that case, Erdman admitted Kumar had been transferred out of the Southern District of Iowa in violation of a court order. The records show Erdman then told the court steps had been taken to ensure similar violations didn’t occur in the future. At the time Erdman made those claims, Ebinger noted in her recent order, he had been aware, for two weeks, of the violation in Saini’s case but said nothing about it.

At the same time Erdman was attesting to ICE’s noncompliance in the Kumar matter, he chose to remain silent as to the exact same noncompliance in this matter.

– U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger

“At the same time Erdman was attesting to ICE’s noncompliance in the Kumar matter, he chose to remain silent as to the exact same noncompliance in this matter,” Ebinger stated in her order. “Federal officials, including ICE officials and the federal respondents in this matter, are in a position of power over numerous lives. Detainees’ rights depend on these officials complying with the law and court orders … It is untenable that federal officials refuse to meet their obligation to follow the law and court orders, especially in this context … This is astonishing conduct and exceedingly unacceptable.”

Ebinger ruled Erdman was in civil contempt and admonished him for his conduct in the case, warning him that any future violations could result in sanctions.

While Erdman told Ebinger that ICE has implemented a plan to prevent court-prohibited transfers in the future, the judge said she did not find that assertion convincing and noted that “ICE continues to struggle to follow the law and court orders.”

Ebinger ordered Erdman to conduct a review of all Southern District of Iowa cases in which ICE detainees are challenging their detention and to then file a statement with the court attesting to the fact that all of those individuals remain in the district.

In her order, Ebinger also reminded the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa of its “ethical obligations to the court and the Iowa Bar.” She noted Kahl’s footnoted disclosure to the court, made two days after he became aware of the violation, calling it “insufficient” in meeting those obligations.

“The court expects better, particularly from assistant U.S. attorneys,” Ebinger stated. “The court will not tolerate willful disobedience of judicial orders.”

MacKenzie Benson Tubbs, the public information officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa, did not respond Tuesday to messages from Iowa Capital Dispatch seeking comment.

Chief judge: ‘Noncitizens are not bargaining chips’

The second recent Iowa case that has resulted in a judge taking federal officials to task over their handling of an immigration case involves Osmar Jose Arraiz Montilla. He was originally detained in Cedar Rapids, within the Northern District of Iowa, before being transferred to the Southern District of Iowa while his court challenge was still pending.

In that case, the judge in the Northern District had not issued an order explicitly barring such a transfer. But the chief judge of the Southern District, Stephanie M. Rose, noted in a court order this week that such transfers aren’t typical, since they would enable the government to “transfer noncitizens from district to district in search of a more favorable locale, or to forestall adjudication of the legality of their detention.”

Rose cited concerns about Montilla’s transfer, given the government’s “record of defying court orders.” She noted that in the previous three weeks, the government had violated two orders prohibiting the transfer of immigration detainees outside the Southern District of Iowa.

“Noncitizens are not bargaining chips to be shifted from district to district as litigation strategy dictates,” Rose stated in her order. “If (Montilla’s) transfer was necessary to make room for other detainees, that interest does not justify defeating a court’s jurisdiction over a pending petition. If it was meant to impede (Montilla’s court challenge), the matter is graver still. Either way, this pattern of behavior is troubling.”

Rose stated that ICE’s transfer of Montilla and the resulting jurisdictional uncertainty it triggered “wasted two weeks of litigation and judicial resources in both the Northern District and Southern District of Iowa.”

Rose’s order bars ICE from transferring Montilla outside the Southern District of Iowa, but with the understanding that if the parties determine that the Northern District is better suited to handle the case, they can notify her so she can clear the way for Montilla’s transfer back to the Northern District.

As part of her order, Rose also directed the federal government to state in writing “the true reason for (Montilla’s) transfer from the Northern District of Iowa to the Southern District of Iowa.”

The offers come as Iowa transitions oversight of state websites and data to two private companies.

IT employees laid off as Iowa privatizes management of its government data and websites are receiving job offers from a private company contracting with the state, as promised by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Cognizant Government Solutions, the New Jersey-based company tasked with taking over daily IT operations for Iowa’s executive branch, sent offer letters to state workers whose jobs are being terminated as a result of the transition, according to the governor’s office and a state employee who is part of the layoffs.

Reynolds, who initially announced the transition to Cognizant and Amazon Web Services on June 9, maintained that the roughly 200 impacted state employees would receive “individualized, competitive job offers” from Cognizant by June 25.

State employees have until July 10 to accept Cognizant’s offers before the two companies begin providing the state services on Aug. 3.

The governor has touted the transition as a continuation of her administration’s initiative to consolidate and centralize the state’s IT services, which her office says will save taxpayers more than $525 million over 10 years

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Law enforcement in Johnson County is preparing for hundreds of thousands of visitors this weekend as multiple major events converge on the area simultaneously.

The Savannah Bananas are playing to a sold-out Kinnick Stadium crowd Friday and Saturday. A Big and Rich free concert is scheduled in Coralville Friday night. Downtown Iowa City will host Jazz Fest all weekend.

Residents prepare for the crowds

In University Heights — a small city nestled inside Iowa City — resident Maria Scott said she and her husband moved to the corner of Koser and Sunset eight years ago for the quiet.

“Thought it would be a place to land and raise our family,” Scott said.

During Hawkeye home football games, Scott said, that quiet corner becomes a high-demand parking spot. The family uses their lawn as a parking lot.

“I think we park 35 cars just on this property,” Scott said.

This weekend, the Scott family is preparing for two nights of full capacity on their property.

Police plan for game-day-level crowds

The University Heights Police Department is also preparing. University of Iowa Public Safety posted a message to social media listing the weekend’s events and asking the public to be patient.

University Heights Police Chief Chris Akers said the volume of activity is not typical.

“Is this normal to have this much going on during a holiday weekend? Absolutely not,” Akers said.

Akers said officers will assist with traffic and crowd control and will also work inside the stadium. He said the department plans to treat the weekend like a game day, with tens of thousands of people in the area over two days.

“When you come in to Iowa City, you come in to Coralville, you come in to University Heights, you come to the University of Iowa — be patient,” Akers said. “Realize that after that game, the stadium holds about 70,000 people and everybody wants to get home.”

Scott said community participation helps make weekends like this work.

“Our kids love it,” Scott said. “They always ask, ‘When do the tailgaters come back?’”