U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents deploy tear gas while on patrol to detain illegal immigrants during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 12, 2026.
Octavio Jones AFP | Getty Images
Federal agents in the Minneapolis area participating in one of the largest recent U.S. immigration enforcement operations can’t detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who aren’t interfering with authorities, even if they’re observing them, a Minnesota judge ruled Friday.
U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez’s ruling covers a lawsuit filed in December on behalf of six Minnesota activists. The six are among thousands of people who have been monitoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol operations in the Minneapolis-St. Louis area as the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement. Paul area from last month.
Federal agents and protesters have clashed repeatedly since the crackdown began. The confrontation escalated on January 7, when an immigration officer shot Renee Good in the head as she fled the scene in Minneapolis in a car, an incident that was captured on video from multiple angles. Law enforcement authorities have arrested or briefly detained a number of people in the Twin Cities.
Activists in the case, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, say government officials are violating the constitutional rights of Twin Cities residents.
After the verdict, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin issued a statement saying the agency was taking “appropriate and constitutional steps to uphold the rule of law and protect our employees and the public from dangerous insurrectionists.”
He said people have assaulted police officers, destroyed vehicles and federal property, and attempted to prevent officers from performing their duties.
“We remind the public that rioting is dangerous. Obstructing law enforcement is a federal crime and assaulting law enforcement is a felony,” McLaughlin said.
The ACLU did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.
The ruling prohibits police officers from detaining a driver or passenger in a vehicle unless the officer has reasonable suspicion that the driver is interfering with or interfering with the vehicle.
The ruling stated that “safely following the officer at a reasonable distance does not in itself create reasonable suspicion to justify a vehicle stop.”
Menendez said investigators are not allowed to arrest people unless they have probable cause or reasonable suspicion that the person has committed a crime or is obstructing or interfering with the operations of police officers.
Menendez is also presiding over a lawsuit filed Monday by the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul seeking to halt the crackdown, and some of the legal issues are similar. At Wednesday’s hearing, he declined to grant the state’s request for an immediate temporary restraining order in the case.
“What we need most right now is a pause. We need to cool down the temperature,” the state’s Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter told her.
Menendez said the issues raised by the state and city in this case are “very important.” But he said this raises high-level constitutional and other legal questions, some of which have little solid precedent. She therefore ordered both sides to submit further briefs next week.
