Federal Judge Declines to Block Federal Immigration Enforcement Surge in Minnesota

Plaintiffs argued that the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge violates Minnesota’s state sovereignty and the 10th Amendment of the Constitution.

Border Patrol agents stand guard at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 8, 2026. Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images

A federal judge on Jan. 31 denied Minnesota’s emergency request to block the Trump administration’s deployment of thousands of federal agents to the Twin Cities in a large-scale immigration enforcement operation.

In her ruling Saturday morning, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez wrote that the “Court must view Plaintiffs’ claims through the lens of the specific legal framework they invoke, and, having done so, finds that Plaintiffs have not met their burden... the motion is denied.”