Federal Judge Refuses Minnesota’s Bid to Halt ICE Operation Metro Surge
A federal judge refused to halt the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, allowing Operation Metro Surge to continue while the state’s lawsuit challenging it moves forward.
Minnesota officials had asked U.S. District Judge Katherine M. Menendez for an immediate order to pause the deployment of thousands of federal agents in the Twin Cities, saying the operation has upended everyday life and violated constitutional rights. The denial marks a procedural setback for the state and city leaders.
The lawsuit, filed this month by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison with support from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Saint Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, argues the surge of ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and other DHS agents oversteps federal authority and harms local communities. Minnesota’s complaint cites what state officials call politically motivated enforcement and a series of disruptions, including protests, local resource strains and two fatal shootings by federal agents in January.
In her ruling, Judge Menendez acknowledged the intense debate but said the plaintiffs had not met the high legal threshold required to justify extraordinary relief like a preliminary injunction at this early litigation stage.
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“Because there is evidence supporting both sides’ arguments … the Court is reluctant to find that the likelihood-of-success factor weighs sufficiently in favor of granting a preliminary injunction,” the judge wrote.
The decision keeps the major enforcement operation in place just as protests and civic pushback continue across Minnesota, with rallies and vigils planned in response to ongoing federal actions.
The ruling matters because it confirms federal authority to conduct enforcement sweeps even when challenged by a state, setting a precedent for similar disputes over sanctuary policies and federal-state power. The judge’s analysis also underscores the difficulty of securing early court intervention against large federal operations.
State leaders have vowed to continue their legal fight and may push for additional evidence and briefing in coming weeks.
For now, federal agents will remain active and enforcement is ongoing across the Twin Cities.
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