OAN Staff Cory Hawkins
1:56 PM – Saturday, January 31, 2026
A federal Minnesota judge denied a request from state and local authorities to temporarily halt the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operation, Operation Metro Surge, allowing it to continue.
The ruling came on Saturday from Biden-appointed U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez.
“Another HUGE @TheJusticeDept legal win in Minnesota just now: a Biden-appointed district judge denied Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s attempt to keep ICE out of Minnesota,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote Saturday on X.
“Neither sanctuary policies nor meritless litigation will stop the Trump Administration from enforcing federal law in Minnesota.”
The lawsuit argued that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is violating constitutional protections, aiming to swiftly halt the enforcement action or limit its capabilities. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers called the lawsuit “legally frivolous.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D), joined by Twin Cities officials, filed a lawsuit earlier this month against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons, and other federal officials.
The Minnesota officials said the ruling is focused on the federal government and their “violations” of the Constitution’s 10th Amendment, which limits the federal government’s powers to infringe on the sovereignty of states.
Judge Menendez acknowledged the “profound and even heartbreaking” impacts on Minnesota communities in her 30-page decision. She cited racial profiling, excessive force, and disruptions of daily life.
“Plaintiffs ask the Court to extend existing precedent to a new context where its application is less direct — namely, to an unprecedented deployment of armed federal immigration officers to aggressively enforce immigration statutes,” Menendez wrote.
“None of the cases on which they rely have even come close,” the judge added.
However, the ruling favored the defense, as the judge concluded the plaintiffs’ 10th Amendment arguments lacked a strong legal basis. She observed that cases like Printz, which prevent the feds from forcing states to act, don’t necessarily restrict the government’s own discretionary enforcement choices.
She also noted that while irreparable harms to the state were present, they were heavily outweighed by the harm to the federal government from blocking immigration law enforcement, citing recent Eighth Circuit precedent.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D-Minn.) said in a statement that he disagreed with the ruling.
“This decision doesn’t change what people here have lived through — fear, disruption, and harm caused by a federal operation that never belonged in Minneapolis in the first place,” Frey said. “This operation has not brought public safety. It’s brought the opposite and has detracted from the order we need for a working city.”
“It’s an invasion, and it needs to stop,” he added.
Operation Metro Surge, which involves the deployment of approximately 3,000 federal agents primarily from ICE and CBP, began late in 2025 as part of broader efforts to address what the Trump administration describes as hindrances from sanctuary policies in Minnesota.
Reports indicated the operation has led to over 1,000 arrests. It has also sparked nationwide protests due to incidents of alleged excessive force, including the fatal shootings of U.S. anti-ICE protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti, prompting a DOJ civil rights investigation into the latter case.
Minnesota officials have vowed to appeal very soon.
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