Federal Judge Limits ICE Tactics Amid Intense Minneapolis Protests
judge restricts ICE agents Minneapolis 2026
A federal judge in Minnesota has issued a sweeping preliminary injunction that strictly limits the tactics federal immigration agents can use against protesters in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. On Friday evening, January 16, 2026, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez released an 83-page order prohibiting agents participating in “Operation Metro Surge” from arresting, detaining, or using physical force—including pepper spray and other non-lethal munitions—against individuals engaged in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity. The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Minnesota on behalf of six residents who alleged that federal agents had engaged in a “campaign of constitutional violations” by targeting observers and retaliating against protected speech. Judge Menendez found that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in showing that their First and Fourth Amendment rights had been violated, citing video evidence of agents deploying chemical irritants against non-violent crowds.+2
The injunction also addresses controversial traffic stops that have become a hallmark of the federal surge in the Twin Cities. The order specifically bars Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents from stopping or detaining drivers and passengers unless there is a “reasonable articulable suspicion” that a crime is being committed or that agents are being forcibly obstructed. Judge Menendez noted that safely following agents at a distance does not, by itself, constitute reasonable suspicion for a vehicle stop. This part of the ruling responds to numerous reports of agents threatening to break drivers’ windows or following protesters to their homes after they attempted to document immigration arrests in residential neighborhoods. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been given 72 hours to notify all agents in the field of these new restrictions, which will remain in effect until the conclusion of the current federal operation.+3
This legal blow to the Trump administration’s immigration strategy comes amid a backdrop of escalating violence and political standoffs. Tensions in the region reached a boiling point following the January 7 fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent, and a second incident on January 14 where a federal officer shot a man in the leg during a traffic stop. While Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin defended the agents’ actions as necessary to quell “violent and obstructive behavior,” Judge Menendez characterized the administration’s tactics as having an “objective chill” on the constitutional rights of Minnesotans. The ruling arrived just as the Justice Department reportedly opened an investigation into Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey for allegedly conspiring to impede federal officers, a move the local leaders have dismissed as an attempt at political intimidation.
The standoff has now moved into a critical phase as the state and city governments continue their separate legal push to have “Operation Metro Surge” declared unconstitutional under the Tenth Amendment. While Judge Menendez declined to grant an immediate temporary restraining order to halt the entire operation earlier this week, she has ordered both sides to file additional briefs on the “enormously important” constitutional issues raised by the deployment of thousands of masked federal agents to a single state. As Minneapolis remains the epicenter of national anti-ICE demonstrations, the federal court’s intervention provides a significant, if temporary, layer of protection for the thousands of residents who have taken to the streets to protest the administration’s domestic immigration policies.
