Nevada Federal Judge Rules ICE Is 'Rebelling' Against Court Order, Forces Release of 17 Detainees

Federal Judge Richard Boulware II issued contempt-adjacent orders in early July 2026 requiring ICE to release 17 people held at the Nevada Southern Detention Center, after DHS refused to comply with his March 2026 ruling vacating mandatory-detention policies under the Administrative Procedure Act. Boulware wrote that “the government is rebelling against the basic principle underlying our constitutional order that an order issued by a court must be obeyed.” DHS is separately stonewalling Nevada state legislators who requested information about the non-compliance, with state senators describing the agency as “stiffing” their inquiries.

This extends the documented pattern of ICE treating district-court orders as optional, already tracked through the redetention of a 77-year-old Palestinian man in Louisiana in defiance of a court order (2026-06-10–ice-defies-federal-judge-redetains-77yo-palestinian-omar-louisiana) and the NYC courthouse arrests defying a June 24 injunction (2026-06-30–ice-nyc-immigration-court-arrests-defy-june-24-injunction). Boulware’s explicit “rebelling” characterization — from a sitting federal judge, not an advocacy group — marks an escalation in how courts themselves are now describing ICE’s posture toward judicial authority.