An appeals court on Wednesday reversed a lower court decision in Minnesota that placed severe restrictions on federal immigration agents when it comes to handling violent and disruptive agitators.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued an administrative stay, pausing a lower court’s preliminary injunction that had limited the tactics used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents against protesters and “observers.”
Wednesday’s decision comes amid Operation Metro Surge, a large-scale immigration enforcement initiative launched by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in early December 2025, which has deployed over 3,000 federal agents to the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The operation has resulted in the arrest of more than 10,000 individuals, according to U.S. Border Patrol officials.