Limits On ICE Agents In Minnesota Blocked By US Appeals Court

The Trump administration won an appeals court order blocking a judge's restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics for dealing with protesters in Minnesota.

A three-judge panel of the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday put an indefinite hold on a lower-court judge's Jan. 16 order that prevented officers from arresting, detaining, pepper-spraying or retaliating against peaceful protesters in Minneapolis. The ruling will remain paused while the government's appeal plays out.

The panel said the lower court order was too broad and vague, given the variations in protests and the actions of law enforcement.

“We accessed and viewed the same videos the district court did,” the appeals court said in the ruling. “What they show is observers and protestors engaging in a wide range of conduct, some of it peaceful but much of it not. They also show federal agents responding in various ways.”

A lawsuit filed in December alleged that federal officers violated the constitutional rights of six protesters, including boxing in a civilian's car and pointing a rifle inside. Protests have continued across Minneapolis, where ICE agents fatally shot US citizens Renee Good on Jan. 7 and Alex Pretti on Jan. 24. President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and placed 1,500 US troops on standby to assist federal agents in Minnesota. 

US District Judge Katherine Menendez said in her Jan. 16 order that the protesters had shown “an ongoing, persistent pattern” of intimidating conduct by ICE officers. Menendez, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, said she could not “ignore the almost-nonstop press reporting of continuing protest activity met with continuing aggressive responses by immigration officers operating in the Twin Cities.”

Representatives for the US Justice Department and the American Civil Liberties Union didn't immediately return requests for comment.

Although the appeals court panel moved unanimously to block Menendez's ruling, Judge Raymond Gruender dissented from the majority on some technical arguments made in the decision. He said he didn't agree that the district judge had been too vague in the portion of her order prohibiting federal agents from using “pepper-spray or similar nonlethal munitions” against people who are peacefully protesting.

Separately, Menendez is still weighing a request by Minnesota state officials for an order pausing the deployment of thousands of immigration enforcement officers in the state.

Menendez told lawyers at a hearing Monday that she was wrestling with the broad scope of the state's request to pause Operation Metro Surge and order officers off the street while the legal fight continues. US officials have “a lot of power” to carry out immigration laws, she said.

But the judge also questioned the Justice Department's assertion that the goal of the surge isn't to force Minnesota to change its policies limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, highlighting a disconnect between US officials' public statements and the government's arguments in court.

Minnesota is alleging that the deployment of officers from ICE and other federal agencies unconstitutionally interferes with the state's authority to manage its affairs and is hurting the safety and health of residents. 

The underlying case is Tincher v. Noem, 25-cv-4669, US District Court, District of Minnesota. The appellate case is Tincher v. Noem, 26-1105, 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals.