Federal judge could rule restricting ICE enforcement this week
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A federal judge said she’ll weigh in this week about how immigration and customs enforcement officers interact with protesters and observers in Minnesota.
The action comes after six Minnesotans sued Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over what they deemed retaliatory actions from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the state. The individuals were detained or threatened by ICE after following officers' vehicles or demonstrating at sites where they were staging immigration enforcement actions.
Judge Katherine Menendez heard oral arguments in the case Tuesday morning and said she would issue an order later this week.
“I am trying to act with haste,” Menendez told the court.
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She said an initial order would likely be a temporary directive, with additional discovery and legal proceedings to follow.
Attorney Kyle Wislocky represented the plaintiffs and said they’re asking the court to bar ICE officers in Minnesota from taking retaliatory action — from pulling over drivers who are following ICE officers to using pepper spray on protesters demonstrating against their enforcement operations.
Wislocky said Minnesotans’ constitutional protections around free speech and unreasonable search and seizures are being curtailed by ICE officers. He said dozens of additional people have signed on as declarants in the case since it was filed last month. And Wislocky said it’s important that Menendez issue an order soon since the federal immigration surge is ongoing.
“It's important for that relief to be entered as soon as possible, because every single day, there are new incidents of clashes between protesters and observers and ICE,” he told reporters following the hearing.
Jeremy Newman and Kathleen Jacobs, attorneys representing the Department of Homeland Security, said intervention is not necessary. And they rejected the argument that protesters’ or observers’ free speech or assembly rights were being chilled by ICE’s actions.
Menendez questioned the attorneys over why the department hadn’t issued additional evidence from agents at the scene of the cases in question and said that without it, she was relying on hearsay from a regional ICE field officer. She called on the department to provide video evidence from officers' cell phones or body-worn cameras, if it exists.
“Why don’t I have the officers’ testimony before me?” she asked Newman and Jacobs.
During the course of her questioning, Menendez suggested there could be a range of possible orders she is considering. She could allow the department to continue its actions unimpeded. She could direct ICE to avoid retaliatory behavior against the six named plaintiffs. She could name a class of individuals who should not be subject to threats or detention by ICE officers or she could take another action.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a separate lawsuit Monday suing the Department of Homeland Security over its immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota and requesting a temporary restraining order on the agency’s actions in the state.
