Federal judge fines DOJ lawyer $500 a day over missing IDs

U.S. District Judge Laura Provinzino found a Justice Department lawyer, Matthew Isihara, in civil contempt on Wednesday and ordered him to pay $500 a day until identification documents belonging to Rigoberto Soto Jimenez are returned. Provinzino’s sanction followed an apparent violation of her Feb. 9 order that Soto Jimenez be released “without imposing any conditions of release and to return all property to him.” Although immigration officials met the release deadline, they released Soto Jimenez without his IDs.

Soto Jimenez, who lives in Big Lake, Minnesota, has lived in the United States since 2018, faces no final removal order or criminal history, and is described by his attorney as years into the process of obtaining lawful status. The missing documents are not an administrative detail: without identification, newly released people frequently lose access to housing, employment, banking and medical care, prolonging instability and heightening risks for individuals and the communities where they resettle.

Isihara, a military lawyer detailed to the Justice Department as a special assistant U.S. attorney, apologized in court and conceded that Provinzino’s order had fallen “through the cracks,” blaming an extraordinary caseload and staffing shortages tied to Operation Metro Surge. Court records show Isihara has been listed as counsel on more than 100 cases since last month; another contract ICE attorney temporarily assigned to help the Justice Department, Julie Le, told a judge in a hearing, “The system sucks. This job sucks. And I am trying every breath that I have so that I can get you what you need.” Records also show Le has been assigned to more than 80 cases.

Judges across multiple districts have compiled growing tallies of alleged noncompliance by federal lawyers and ICE, and some have grown increasingly forceful in response. One federal judge counted 96 court orders violated across 74 cases in January alone; another tally compiled locally reached nearly 100 instances of noncompliance since the start of the month. Jordan Fox, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, reportedly acknowledged that the Justice Department had violated more than 50 orders in New Jersey. Yale Law professor Muneer I. Ahmad said, “Federal judges are at their wits’ end when it comes to the government.”

The confrontation lays bare consequences that reach beyond courtroom procedure. Public health and social service providers rely on stable documentation to enroll people for Medicaid, prescription refills and mental health follow up. When released people cannot prove identity, continuity of care is disrupted, clinics and hospitals face administrative burdens, and community-based supports struggle to place clients in temporary housing or jobs. That fallout disproportionately affects low-income and immigrant communities already facing barriers to care, exacerbating health inequities.

The punishment also exposed intra-government friction. Daniel Rosen, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, called Provinzino’s order “a lawless abuse of judicial power.” The dispute underscores a policy and resource dilemma: courts are using contempt and injunctions to enforce compliance while DOJ and ICE point to staffing shortfalls driven by emergency operations and surges in litigation.

Provinzino’s order makes clear that courts expect immediate corrective action: the $500 daily sanction will continue until Soto Jimenez regains his identification. Legal and public health advocates say the episode should prompt a coordinated response to fix handoffs between detention, release and community services, and to avert further harms to people returning to their communities without the basic documents they need to survive.