Federal judge rejects Minnesota request to block ICE-led Operation Metro Surge

A federal judge has denied Minnesota’s request to immediately halt U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Operation Metro Surge.

Saturday’s ruling said the state and two cities failed to meet the high legal bar required to block a federal law enforcement operation at this stage of the case.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez signed the order and said the plaintiffs “have not met their burden” for the “extraordinary remedy” of a preliminary injunction.

The blue state, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and federal immigration officials in an effort to block the ICE-led enforcement operation.

The plaintiffs asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction stopping the federal operation while the case proceeds.

But Menendez denied that request, ruling the plaintiffs failed to meet the high legal standard required for such extraordinary relief.

The city released a statement from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on social media following the decision.

“Of course, we’re disappointed. 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 wrote.

“This operation has not brought public safety. It’s brought the opposite and has detracted from the order we need for a working city,” he continued. “It’s an invasion, and it needs to stop.”

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Minnesota has become a flashpoint in left-wing resistance to federal immigration enforcement, with Democrat state and local leaders openly opposing ICE-led raids.

Operation Metro Surge began in early December 2025, when the federal government deployed thousands of immigration enforcement agents to Minnesota and the Twin Cities. 

According to government filings in the case, Operation Metro Surge has led to about 3,000 arrests in Minnesota.

In a statement Thursday, the DHS said Operation Metro Surge has targeted “criminal illegal aliens,” including convicted murderers, sex offenders, violent assailants and drug traffickers arrested in Minnesota.

The deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti have intensified scrutiny and public outcry over enforcement tactics.

White House border czar Tom Homan was sent to the state by President Donald Trump this week, where he met with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Frey.

Homan pushed back against claims the move was part of a pullback of the administration’s immigration crackdown, telling Fox News host Sean Hannity on Friday that there will be no change to the mass deportation agency. 

“To set the record straight, because my staff said they’ve seen a lot of people that say President Trump’s backing off on his promise of mass deportation — that’s just untrue,” Homan said.

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“For people that want to misinterpret what President Trump sending me to Minneapolis means, then you’re not paying attention,” he added.

Fox News’ Nora Moriarty contributed to this report.