A federal judge in Minnesota on Friday placed new limits on how federal law enforcement can respond to ongoing protests in Minneapolis tied to the Trump administration’s expanded immigration enforcement in the area.
In an 83-page order, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez prohibited federal agents deployed to Minnesota as part of the administration’s immigration operations from arresting or using pepper spray or other nonlethal munitions against peaceful demonstrators.
The order also restricts agents from stopping or detaining drivers and passengers near protest activity when there is “no reasonable articulable suspicion” that those individuals are forcibly interfering with law enforcement operations.
Menendez described some allegations raised in court as “disturbing,” pointing to protesters’ accounts that agents threatened to break car windows, waited outside protesters’ homes, followed them home, or told them they knew where they lived.
“There may be ample suspicion to stop cars, and even arrest drivers engaged in dangerous conduct while following immigration enforcement officers, but that does not justify stops of cars not breaking the law,” Menendez wrote. She added that the protest activity is “somewhat unique,” noting the limited legal guidance for situations in which small, mobile groups gather wherever immigration officers attempt arrests or otherwise enforce immigration law across the Twin Cities.
The judge’s order will remain in effect until the current surge of federal law enforcement in Minneapolis ends.
In response, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the agency is “taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.” She said agents have faced assaults, vandalism, and other threats, but have followed training and used the minimum force necessary. McLaughlin also warned that obstructing law enforcement is a federal crime and assaulting officers is a felony.
The decision comes amid a weeks-long escalation in immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis. Thousands of federal agents have been deployed to target individuals suspected of being in the U.S. unlawfully and to investigate allegations of fraud in Minnesota.
Those operations have sparked tense protests, which intensified after Renee Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent last week. Protesters and agents have clashed in some incidents, with reports that agents used pepper spray.
Last month, a group of Minnesota protesters sued the Department of Homeland Security, alleging federal agents “violently subdued” demonstrations opposing the enforcement actions. The lawsuit claims a “campaign of constitutional violations,” arguing that protesters’ First Amendment free-speech rights and Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable seizures were infringed.
Menendez concluded that several plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing their First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated, citing arrests and the use of chemical irritants against them.
Federal attorneys have denied any constitutional violations, arguing agents used pepper spray and arrests to address “violent, obstructive, dangerous, and often criminal behavior” that interfered with immigration operations. The government also accused some plaintiffs of obstructing, assaulting, or attempting to assault federal officers, or of following ICE vehicles.
The administration has additionally criticized local leaders who have condemned the enforcement push. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey are under federal investigation over an alleged conspiracy to impede immigration agents, CBS News reported Friday. Both have rejected the investigation, with Walz accusing the administration of “threatening political opponents” and Frey calling it an “obvious attempt to intimidate me.”
