Federal Judge Says Immigration Sweeps Can Continue For Now In Minnesota

By Brian Martucci, Minnesota Reformer

January 16, 2026

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez said in a Wednesday hearing that there wasn’t enough time to make an informed ruling on state officials’ request for an injunction on “further legal violations and unlawful escalations” by federal agents reporting to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and legal representatives for the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul filed suit on Monday to stop what multiple state and local officials have called a “federal invasion.”

Menendez did not outright reject Ellison and his co-plaintiffs’ claims, saying only that she needed more time to fully consider the facts of the case, KSTP reported. She asked the federal government for its response to the suit by Monday and for the state to file a reply by Jan. 22. A ruling could follow soon after.

In other legal news, Chris Madel, a Republican candidate for Minnesota governor, told the Star Tribune that he was providing legal counsel to Jonathan Ross, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.

Madel said he is still running for governor and that he wanted to help Ross get legal representation from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Outside the courtroom, a cold front sweeping through Minnesota had little apparent effect on the thousands of ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents working in the Twin Cities and outstate. Federal law enforcement activity spread into smaller Minnesota communities, with agents active this week in Detroit Lakes, Circle Pines and multiple Twin Cities suburbs.

St. Paul Public Schools announced on Wednesday it would provide a virtual learning option beginning Jan. 22 for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school amid the surge in federal agents. Minneapolis Public Schools plan to offer a remote learning option for students through at least Feb. 12.

In Minneapolis, bystander video posted to City Council President Elliott Payne’s social media accounts showed agents shoving him off the sidewalk as he met with other local officials near the intersection of Central and Lowry avenues.

Payne told CBS News he was filming a public service announcement with state Sen. Dorian Clark, DFL-Minneapolis, and City Council Member Jason Chavez.

Meanwhile, immigration enforcement may be ramping up at the Hennepin County Medical Center, the state’s largest public safety net hospital, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

MPR News reported Wednesday that ICE agents were entering hospitals with detainees, sometimes without warrants, and — according to five Hennepin Healthcare nurses who asked to remain anonymous — sitting in on patient appointments.

An anonymous Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport employee shared a memo with FOX 9 detailing plans for ICE agents to spend three weeks at the hub checking travelers’ and employees’ documents.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Airports Commission told FOX 9 in a statement that “federal regulations provide federal agents with broad access to MSP Airport property [including] the airfield, pre- and post-security areas in the terminals and public spaces like parking ramps and lots.”

Federal authorities are also stepping up their efforts to move detainees not released soon after their arrest for one reason or another through the legal process. The Pentagon plans to dispatch at least 25 military judges to Minnesota, according to CNN, while MPR News reported immigration enforcement agencies appear to have dramatically increased deportation flights out of the state.

ICE appears to need all the help it can get on the ground, too. The agency hired independent journalist and Army veteran Laura Jedeed apparently without even a cursory check of her vocally anti-ICE online presence, Jedeed revealed in an engrossing article for the online magazine Slate.

“It takes about five seconds of Googling to figure out how I feel about ICE, the Trump administration, and the country’s general right-wing project,” Jedeed wrote. In other words, too much time for an agency with more money than it knows what to do with.

Ordinary Minnesotans continued pushing back on the stepped-up federal law enforcement presence. Hundreds of St. Paul public school students staged a coordinated walkout on Wednesday that converged on the state Capitol. Multiple recent polls show solid majorities of American adults disapproving of ICE’s tactics and disbelieving the Trump administration’s official line on Good’s killing.

Perhaps in response, President Donald Trump on Tuesday appeared to soften his stance on Good, who senior administration officials previously called a “domestic terrorist.”

“I would bet you that she, under normal circumstances, was a very solid, wonderful person,” Trump told CBS News anchor Tony Doukopil, who has faced criticism for fawning coverage of the Trump administration since stepping into the role last week.

Trump then added: “But, you know, her actions were pretty tough.”

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..