A federal judge in Minnesota has refused the state’s bid to immediately rescind President Donald Trump’s large-scale immigration enforcement surge — a decision that allows the highly controversial operation to continue while legal challenges proceed.
On Saturday, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez denied an emergency request from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul to issue a preliminary injunction that would pause the deployment of thousands of federal immigration agents under “Operation Metro Surge.” The lawsuit argues that the surge violates constitutional protections, including the 10th Amendment, and interferes with state and local sovereignty.
State officials have claimed the surge — which has brought roughly 3,000 members of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) into the Twin Cities area — has led to serious civil rights concerns and heightened community tensions. Critics describe it as politically motivated coercion aimed at pressuring sanctuary jurisdictions to abandon their policies. Minnesota’s lawsuit also points to fatal incidents during enforcement actions as evidence of excessive force and mismanagement by federal agents.
In her ruling, Judge Menendez concluded that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that they were likely to prevail on the merits of their constitutional claims at this early stage of litigation. She noted that while the issues raised are serious and involve “profound and even heartbreaking” consequences, they do not justify halting the entire federal operation before fuller briefing and evidence review.
The Trump administration defended the surge, saying it is a lawful enforcement of existing immigration laws in jurisdictions where cooperation with state and local authorities has been limited. The Department of Justice has characterized Minnesota’s legal challenge as legally groundless and urged the court to reject efforts to stop the operation.
Minnesota leaders have indicated they will continue to pursue their case in court as tensions between local authorities and federal agencies persist.
