ST. PAUL, Minn. — The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday paused a judge’s order restricting Immigration and Customs Enforcement from arresting or using chemical irritants against peaceful protesters observing raids around Minneapolis and St. Paul. The stay came after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the limits would “handcuff ICE agents” during an ICE Minnesota enforcement surge that has triggered daily demonstrations, Jan. 22, 2026.
ICE Minnesota protest protections: what the appeals court changed
U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez issued the preliminary injunction last week after activists sued in December, arguing federal agents retaliated against nonviolent protesters and bystanders and chilled First Amendment activity, according to a Reuters account of the case.
Menendez’s order barred agents from detaining peaceful demonstrators and from using pepper spray, tear gas or other crowd-control munitions on people protesting or recording operations. The 8th Circuit’s administrative stay blocks that injunction for now, and local reporting noted the underlying order also limited vehicle stops near demonstrations unless agents had “reasonable articulable suspicion,” including in coverage by CBS Minnesota.
ICE Minnesota home-entry memo raises new warrant questions
Separate from the protest lawsuit, an internal ICE memo dated May 12, 2025, asserts officers may enter a person’s residence to make an administrative immigration arrest using a signed I-205 “warrant of removal” without a warrant issued by a judge, the Associated Press reported after obtaining the document.
The memo directs officers to knock, identify themselves and use only “necessary and reasonable” force if entry is refused. Legal experts told AP the guidance conflicts with longstanding Fourth Amendment guardrails around home entry, and advocates expect it to face court challenges.
The warrant dispute has sharpened in ICE Minnesota after an ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, in Minneapolis earlier this month, fueling protests and scrutiny of enforcement tactics.
How the ICE Minnesota surge got here
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul filed a federal lawsuit Jan. 12 seeking to end what they call “Operation Metro Surge,” saying thousands of DHS agents were sent into the Twin Cities in December and that the deployment has strained local resources and violated residents’ rights, according to a statement from the City of Minneapolis.
Continuity: the long-running fight over “administrative” warrants
The debate over home entry did not begin with the May 2025 memo. A 2025 National Immigration Law Center fact sheet explains that an administrative immigration warrant “does not authorize a search,” and says people generally may refuse entry to nonpublic spaces when agents present only immigration paperwork, as outlined in a NILC guide to subpoenas and warrants.
During the first Trump administration, advocates also boosted door-knock trainings and distributed scripts urging residents to ask for “a judicial warrant signed by a judge,” according to a 2019 Associated Press report on community preparations.
For now, the appeals-court stay leaves fewer court-imposed limits on ICE Minnesota crowd-control tactics as litigation over protest rights and home-entry authority continues.
