MINNEAPOLIS: A federal judge in Minnesota on Friday ordered that US immigration agents deployed en masse to Minneapolis be restricted in some of the tactics they have taken against peaceful demonstrators and observers, including arrests and tear-gassing.
Handing a victory to local activists in Minnesota’s most populous city, US District Judge Kate Menendez issued an injunction barring federal agents from retaliating against individuals engaged in non-violent, unobstructive protest activity.
The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed against the US Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies on December 17, three weeks before an immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis, spawning waves of protests and putting the city on edge.
The court case was brought on behalf of six protesters and observers who claimed their constitutional rights had been infringed by the actions of ICE agents.
The 83-page order explicitly prohibits federal officers from detaining people who are peacefully protesting or merely observing the officers, unless there is reasonable suspicion that they are interfering with law enforcement or have committed a crime.
Federal agents also are banned from using pepper spray, tear gas or other crowd-control munitions against peaceful demonstrators or bystanders observing and recording the immigration enforcement operations, the judge ruled.
Menendez wrote that the government, in defending the street tactics of its immigration officers, had failed to “explain why it is necessary for them to arrest and use force against peaceful observers.”
Stopping or detaining drivers and passengers in vehicles when there is no reason to believe they are forcibly obstructing or interfering with federal agents is likewise prohibited, according to the court order.
Order comes amid heightened tensions
“There may be ample suspicion to stop cars, and even arrest drivers, engaged in dangerous conduct while following immigration enforcement officers, but that does not justify stops of cars not breaking the law,” Menendez wrote.
The DHS did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The ruling comes nearly two weeks after the Trump administration announced it was sending 2,000 immigration agents to the Minneapolis area, bolstering an earlier deployment in what the DHS called its largest such operation in history.
The surge in heavily armed officers from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and Border Patrol has since grown to nearly 3,000, dwarfing the ranks of local police officers in the Twin Cities metropolitan area of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Tensions over the deployment have mounted considerably since an ICE agent fatally shot Good, a mother of three, behind the wheel of her car on January 7.
At the time, Good was taking part in one of numerous neighborhood patrols organized by local activists to track and monitor ICE activities.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, one of the federal officials named in the lawsuit, said after the shooting that Good had been “stalking and impeding” ICE agents all day and had committed an act of “domestic terrorism” by trying to run over federal officers.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and local activists disputed Noem’s account, saying Good posed no physical threat to ICE agents. They pointed to video clips of the incident they said showed that Good was trying to drive her car away from officers and that the use of lethal force against her was unjustified.
Frey and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz have repeatedly demanded that the Trump administration withdraw the immigration agents, asserting that the operation is being conducted in a reckless manner endangering the public.
While largely siding with the plaintiffs in the case, the judge did not grant all their requests, declining to ban the federal government from actions not specifically taken against those who filed suit. She also limited the injunction to officers deployed in the Twin Cities, rather than extending it statewide.
![]()
US judge orders curbs on immigration agents’ tactics toward Minnesota protesters
Short Url
https://arab.news/myaa3
US judge orders curbs on immigration agents’ tactics toward Minnesota protesters
- Arrests and tear-gassing of peaceful demonstrators prohibited
- Observers also protected from arrests, crowd-control munitions
India’s prime minister says it has reached a free trade deal with the EU
- It touches a whopping 2 billion people and is one of the biggest bilateral engagements on commerce
- The timing comes as Washington targets both India and the EU with steep import tariffs
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday that India and the European Union have reached a free trade agreement to deepen their economic and strategic ties.
The accord, which touches a whopping 2 billion people, was concluded after nearly two decades of negotiations. It was dubbed the “mother of all deals” by both sides.
It is one of the biggest bilateral engagements on commerce. The timing comes as Washington targets both India and the EU with steep import tariffs.
“This agreement will bring major opportunities for the people of India and Europe. It represents 25 percent of the global GDP and one-third of global trade,” Modi said while virtually addressing an energy conference.
The deal comes at a time when Washington is targeting both India and the EU with steep tariffs, disrupting established trade flows and pushing major economies to seek alternate partnerships.
Modi was scheduled to meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later Tuesday to jointly announce the agreement.
India has stepped up efforts to diversify its export destinations as part of a broader strategy to offset the impact of higher US tariffs.
The tariffs include an extra 25 percent levy on Indian goods for its unabated purchases of discounted Russian oil, bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the United States on its ally to 50 percent.
The deal gives the EU expanded access to one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies, helping European exporters and investors to reduce their reliance on more volatile markets.
Bilateral trade between India and EU stood at $136.5 billion in 2024-25. The two sides hope to increase that to about $200 billion by 2030, India’s Trade Ministry officials said.
“Ultimately, the agreement is about creating a stable commercial corridor between two major markets at a time the global trading system is fragmenting,” said Indian trade analyst Ajay Srivastava.
The EU is still reeling from the aggressive approach of its once-stalwart ally across the Atlantic. There’s a widespread sense of betrayal across the 27-nation bloc from US President Donald Trump’s onslaught of higher tariffs, embrace of far-right parties, and belligerence over Greenland.
Brussels has accelerated its outreach to markets around the world: Over the past year, von der Leyen has signed deals with Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and South America under the catchphrase “strategic autonomy,” which in practice is akin to decoupling from a US seen by most European leaders as erratic.
“We are showing a fractured world that another way is possible,” she posted on X after arriving in India on Sunday.
The accord, which touches a whopping 2 billion people, was concluded after nearly two decades of negotiations. It was dubbed the “mother of all deals” by both sides.
It is one of the biggest bilateral engagements on commerce. The timing comes as Washington targets both India and the EU with steep import tariffs.
“This agreement will bring major opportunities for the people of India and Europe. It represents 25 percent of the global GDP and one-third of global trade,” Modi said while virtually addressing an energy conference.
The deal comes at a time when Washington is targeting both India and the EU with steep tariffs, disrupting established trade flows and pushing major economies to seek alternate partnerships.
Modi was scheduled to meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later Tuesday to jointly announce the agreement.
India has stepped up efforts to diversify its export destinations as part of a broader strategy to offset the impact of higher US tariffs.
The tariffs include an extra 25 percent levy on Indian goods for its unabated purchases of discounted Russian oil, bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the United States on its ally to 50 percent.
The deal gives the EU expanded access to one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies, helping European exporters and investors to reduce their reliance on more volatile markets.
Bilateral trade between India and EU stood at $136.5 billion in 2024-25. The two sides hope to increase that to about $200 billion by 2030, India’s Trade Ministry officials said.
“Ultimately, the agreement is about creating a stable commercial corridor between two major markets at a time the global trading system is fragmenting,” said Indian trade analyst Ajay Srivastava.
The EU is still reeling from the aggressive approach of its once-stalwart ally across the Atlantic. There’s a widespread sense of betrayal across the 27-nation bloc from US President Donald Trump’s onslaught of higher tariffs, embrace of far-right parties, and belligerence over Greenland.
Brussels has accelerated its outreach to markets around the world: Over the past year, von der Leyen has signed deals with Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and South America under the catchphrase “strategic autonomy,” which in practice is akin to decoupling from a US seen by most European leaders as erratic.
“We are showing a fractured world that another way is possible,” she posted on X after arriving in India on Sunday.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.