Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, including one wearing a ‘NOT ICE’ face covering, walk near their vehicles, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Richfield, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
WASHINGTON (TNND) — Federal agents deployed to Minneapolis will be able to resume using force and arresting peaceful protesters after a federal appeals court put a temporary pause Wednesday on a lower judge’s ruling which put restrictions on federal agents’ tactics.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez issued an 83-page order blocking federal agents tasked with enforcing President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda in Minnesota from arresting peaceful protesters or using pepper spray and other nonlethal munitions against them.
Menendez’s ruling also prevented federal law officials from “stopping or detaining drivers and passengers in vehicles where there is no reasonable articulable suspicion” that they are impeding law enforcement operations.
Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to grant an administrative stay on Menendez’s ruling in a social media post.
“A liberal judge in Minnesota tried to handcuff ICE agents who are enforcing the Nation’s immigration laws and responding to obstructive and violent interference from agitators,” Bondi wrote.
“The 8th Circuit just granted an administrative stay HALTING these restrictions, which were designed to undermine federal law enforcement.”
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Amid accusations of widespread fraud committed by members of the Somalian community in Minnesota, the Trump administration has deployed upwards of 3,000 federal agents to the state, leading to mass protests and escalating tensions between federal agents and members of the community.
