A Biden-appointed federal judge in Minnesota blocked immigration agents from using crowd control tools or “retaliating” against protesters in a Friday decision.
Officers may not deploy pepper spray or similar dispersal tools, stop drivers if they are merely observing immigration enforcement, or use force against anyone “engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest activity,” U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez ruled. The decision, the latest development in a case against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) filed Dec. 17, 2025, granted a preliminary injunction in favor of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protesters who sued over alleged First Amendment violations.
“DHS is taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told The New York Times in response to the injunction.
Agents have “followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public and federal property,” she also told the outlet.
DHS did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
“Plaintiffs have shown that they have a fair chance of demonstrating that it was their protected conduct — speech, protest, and observation — that motivated Defendants’ adverse actions,” Menendez wrote, describing their allegations agents used excessive force and arrested those who were not illegally impeding federal law enforcement operations. The left-wing American Civil Liberties Union and other law firms are representing the activists in court.
Menendez clarified her opinion “does nothing to prevent [agents] from continuing to enforce immigration laws.”
The First Amendment complaints came before an ICE agent fatally shot activist Renee Good, 37, as she drove her car toward him in Minneapolis, drawing nationwide attention. DHS claims Good’s car hit the agent and injured his torso.
President Donald Trump threatened Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act as part of a military response in Minneapolis if local officials do not stop rioters from endangering law enforcement.
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