Federal Judge Blocks Immigration Agents in Minnesota From Retaliating Against Protesters

A federal judge in Minnesota issued an order Friday to rein in federal immigration agents’ tactics against protesters during the Trump administration’s surge in deportation efforts there.

The emergency intervention by U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez temporarily bars federal officers involved in “Operation Metro Surge” from arresting, using chemical irritants on or otherwise retaliating against peaceful protesters.It also prohibits federal law enforcement officials from stopping or detaining drivers without “reasonable articulable suspicion that they are forcibly obstructing or interfering” with their work, stating that safely following agents does not constitute reasonable suspicion.

In the wake of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent’s fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, the plaintiffs urged Menendez to issue a broad ruling to stop alleged retaliation against protesters.

The suit was filed prior to Good’s killing on behalf of six protesters, represented by the ACLU of Minnesota, Ciresi Conlin, Forsgren Fisher and the law office of Kevin C. Riach. The protesters argued federal officers had used excessive force against them.

The government argued stopping cars from following them was reasonable because they feared for their safety. A Department of Justice attorney argued during the Tuesday hearing that protesters weren’t protected by the First Amendment to watch immigration agents.

In the order, Menendez states that the protesters involved in the suit are likely to succeed on First Amendment retaliation grounds. The order applies to people who “record, observe, and/or protest Operation Metro Surge” and will remain in place until the effort concludes, she states. It applies to those involved in that operation, not to officers nationwide.

Menendez states that “the Court’s injunction does nothing to prevent Defendants from continuing to enforce immigration laws.”

The Department of Justice is expected to appeal the order.

Clashes between protesters and immigration officers have intensified following ICE agent Jonathan Ross’ fatal shooting of Good on Jan. 7 and the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant who was a subject of a targeted operation Wednesday night.

Three immigrants without authorization to live in the country, including the person a federal law enforcement officer shot in the leg, are in ICE custody after they attacked the officer, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The incident sparked a protest at the scene that the Minneapolis Police Department declared an unlawful assembly.

Menendez’s decision comes a day after President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to send the military to Minnesota.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The judge, appointed by former President Joe Biden, is also overseeing Minnesota’s lawsuit to end the surge of immigration agents in Minneapolis.

Trump praised Menendez on Thursday morning, calling her a highly respected judge after she declined to issue an emergency temporary restraining order declaring unconstitutional the deployment of thousands of federal agents to the Twin Cities as part of “Operation Metro Surge.” Menendez could still come to a decision favoring the state, but it won’t happen until at least next week.