Biden-Appointed Federal Judge Smacks Down Minnesota’s Attempt to Block ICE Crackdown

Minnesota’s effort to use the courts as a vehicle to immediately end the immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis has failed.

On Saturday, U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Menendez  said Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the state of Minnesota “have not met their burden” to cut Operation Metro Surge short through the “extraordinary remedy” of a preliminary injunction, according to Fox News.

Operation Metro Surge began in December. Federal officials said about 3,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested during the operation.

“This is a win for public safety and law and order,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said as part of a post on X.

A Biden-appointed federal judge denied Minnesota’s lawsuit to end Operation Metro Surge.

This is a win for public safety and law and order. These are just a few of the criminal illegal aliens we have arrested in the last week in Minneapolis:

— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) January 31, 2026

Menendez, nominated by former President Joe Biden, did not take a position on Operation Metro Surge.

She said the state and cities “provided no metric by which to determine when lawful law enforcement becomes unlawful commandeering, simply arguing that the excesses of Operation Metro Surge are so extreme that the surge exceeds whatever line must exist,” according to The New York Times.

“A proclamation that Operation Metro Surge has simply gone ‘so far on the other side of the line’ is a thin reed on which to base a preliminary injunction,” she said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis and state Attorney General Keith Ellison said they continue their legal effort to end the immigration enforcement operation.

Lindsey Middlecamp, a lawyer for the state had called the arrival of federal agents  an “invasion.”

Brantley Mayers, representing the Trump administration, rejected state and local claims that the operation was a form of political payback.

“There is nothing to back up this claim that we’re here for another reason,” Mayers said, insisting that immigration enforcement was the reason for the surge.

“The Court is particularly reluctant to take a side in the debate about the purpose behind Operation Metro Surge,” Menendez wrote, according to The Washington Post.

“Not only is it difficult to identify a single motivation for a significant multifaceted operation, but doing so would venture into a uniquely controversial political question.”

“The Court can readily imagine scenarios where the federal executive must legitimately vary its use of law enforcement resources from one state to the next, and there is no precedent for a court to micromanage such decisions.”

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.

Neither sanctuary policies nor meritless litigation will stop the Trump Administration from…

— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 31, 2026

Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the ruling in a post on X.

“Neither sanctuary policies nor meritless litigation will stop the Trump Administration from enforcing federal law in Minnesota,” she wrote.

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