Judge Sweeney Opens Contempt Inquiry as ICE Official Testifies to a Direct Order to Re-Detain Habeas Releases

Colorado Politics reported that a federal judge in Colorado launched an inquiry on Wednesday into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s repeated violations of court orders, telling ICE and the government’s lawyers that their conduct amounted to contempt. U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney said she would not tolerate ICE’s practice of releasing people from immigration custody in response to judges’ orders, only to immediately arrest them again, and added that, to her knowledge, ICE had released and immediately rearrested 10 people in a week despite judges’ orders.

Nichole Black, the assistant field office director for ICE, testified that “I received a direct order” to “re-detain habeas releases that had some kind of criminality”. The directive came from Deputy Field Office Director George Valdez, who in turn received the order from Rasper, the director. Sweeney set a follow-up hearing for Monday, ordering ICE’s Denver field office director, Nathan Rasper, to appear and speak to the agency’s conduct. Related: 2026-11-06–judge-sweeney-orders-ice-field-office-director-to-court-over-colorado-re-arrests-of-released-detainees; 2026-10-19–judge-bryan-threatens-ice-sanctions-after-saltos-release-order-violated-instant-rearrest-minnesota.