ICE handed big win in legal fight over retaliation against protesters

A federal appeals court dealt a blow to immigrant rights activists Thursday when it temporarily halted a lower court's ban on immigration agents retaliating against Minnesota protesters.

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals handed a major win to the Trump administration's aggressive "Operation Metro Surge" deportation push across the state, Notus reported. Just days earlier, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez had slapped strict limits on federal agents, barring them from arresting peaceful demonstrators, deploying chemical irritants, or targeting drivers following the Jan. 7 shooting death of Minneapolis mother Renee Nicole Good.

Now, that protection is on hold.

Six Minneapolis residents backed by the American Civil Liberties Union had begged the court to rein in federal officers' heavy-handed tactics.

The decision ramps up tensions between the White House and Minnesota's Democratic establishment, with Gov. Tim Walz and local leaders demanding the feds leave.

The Department of Justice previously slapped subpoenas on Walz and four Democratic state officials, investigating whether they conspired to block immigration enforcement operations.

Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, as hundreds of additional federal officers patrol the streets.