Trump Applauds Federal Judge for Allowing ICE Crackdown to Continue in Minnesota

President Donald Trump praised a Minnesota judge on Thursday for rejecting a legal push to halt his administration’s federal immigration crackdown in the state, calling the operation “highly successful” and crediting ICE for driving down crime.

“A highly respected judge declined to block I.C.E. operations in the very politically corrupt State of Minnesota,” Trump said. “I.C.E. will therefore be allowed to continue its highly successful operation of removing some of the most violent and vicious criminals anywhere in the World, many of them murderers, from the State. The great patriots of Law Enforcement will continue to make our Country safe. RECORD LOW CRIME NUMBERS!!!”

Judge Kate Menendez, appointed by President Biden, refused to issue a temporary restraining order against the ICE surge, saying the matter was serious but did not merit an immediate injunction. Her decision allows the Trump administration to keep thousands of ICE agents deployed across the Minneapolis region, despite mounting political and legal opposition.

Leftist Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sued the federal government on Monday, calling Trump’s enforcement effort an “invasion.” He filed the lawsuit just days after an ICE agent fatally shot anti-ICE protester Renee Good, who had reportedly driven her vehicle at the agent. Protests have continued daily since.

The federal government must respond to Minnesota’s lawsuit by January 19. Menendez denied a motion to delay that deadline, calling the situation too urgent. She made clear that her ruling on the restraining order was not an indication of how she would ultimately decide the full case.

Meanwhile, Trump has made clear he’s prepared to escalate further. After another ICE-involved shooting on Wednesday night, where an agent was reportedly attacked by multiple assailants while attempting to detain a Venezuelan illegal immigrant, Trump warned he may invoke the Insurrection Act to restore order.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.”