A federal judge on Friday night prohibited Department of Homeland Security agents from arresting people who are peacefully protesting immigration officers in Minneapolis unless they are suspected of criminal activity or obstructing the agents.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez in Minneapolis said her order will remain in effect until the operation concludes or “conditions change such that it is no longer necessary.” It also bars federal agents from retaliating against peaceful protesters, using pepper spray and other nonlethal munitions against demonstrators, and stopping or detaining people in cars simply for following agents’ vehicles.
Menendez issued the order in response to six Minneapolis-area residents who alleged that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents violated their constitutional rights while they were observing or protesting immigration raids in their neighborhoods.
“Plaintiffs allege they have been subject to a variety of retaliatory behavior by Defendants, including traffic stops, arrests, the indiscriminate use of chemical irritants, and pointing of firearms,” Menendez wrote in her order. “These kinds of conduct are those that undoubtedly give rise to an objective chill of First Amendment rights.”
The ruling came after a hearing Tuesday in the case and the death this month of Renée Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer while witnessing federal enforcement actions on a residential street in Minneapolis.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.
The Minnesota residents who filed the lawsuit are among those who have sought to monitor and record immigration enforcement activity in their communities since the Trump administration began deploying large numbers of immigration officers to the state last month.
One plaintiff, Susan Tincher, who intended to observe and record an immigration arrest she heard was occurring in her neighborhood, was arrested and pinned to the ground by agents after she asked if they were part of ICE, according to the lawsuit. Two other plaintiffs said that after following an unmarked vehicle they suspected belonged to ICE, multiple masked agents surrounded their car and pointed semiautomatic weapons at them, according to court documents.
The lawsuit names Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem, Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting director Todd M. Lyons, and local ICE field office directors and agents as defendants. The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota is representing the plaintiffs.
The ACLU lawsuit is separate from the suit filed Monday by Minnesota’s attorney general and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul against DHS over its immigration enforcement operations.
That suit, filed in federal district court in Minneapolis, asks the court to issue a temporary restraining order to limit DHS operations in the Twin Cities, alleging that federal agents have conducted “dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional stops and arrests” under “the guise of lawful immigration enforcement.” On Wednesday, Judge Menendez declined to issue a temporary restraining order, saying that she wanted to see more evidence and hear testimony before deciding whether such an order was warranted.
Illinois also filed a lawsuit Monday, accusing DHS agents operating in the Chicago area of “unlawful and dangerous” tactics, such as using tear gas and other chemical weapons on bystanders and arresting people without warrants or probable cause.
The judge in the two Minnesota cases had originally scheduled a hearing to determine whether to issue a preliminary injunction on the ACLU’s lawsuit for Jan. 8 but had to reschedule it Jan. 7 after Good’s killing.
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