ICE unleashed: Agents can once again fend off agitators after court torpedoes Biden judge's injunction

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered anti-ICE activists a crushing blow on Monday, granting a full stay of an activist judge's ruling that had threatened to greatly restrict U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents' ability to fend off agitators and obstructionists in the Gopher State.

Quick background

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota and three Minnesota-based law firms filed a lawsuit on Dec. 17 against ICE, alleging its agents violated the First and Fourth Amendment rights of several anti-ICE activists, including a Minnesota woman and a Somali-American who were both accused of attacking federal agents.

'Liberal judges tried to handcuff our federal law enforcement officers.'

Kate Menendez, a U.S. district judge nominated by former President Joe Biden, ruled in favor of the radicals on Jan. 16, prohibiting federal agents from arresting, retaliating against, and using nonlethal munitions or crowd dispersal tools against "all persons who do or will in the future record, observe, and/or protest against" Operation Metro Surge and related operations in Minnesota.

The Biden judge also barred ICE from "stopping or detaining drivers and passengers in vehicles where there is no reasonable articulable suspicion that they are forcibly obstructing or interfering with Covered Federal Agents."

The ACLU of Minnesota welcomed the ruling and expressed relief that they'd gotten their way — but the liberal group's celebration was premature.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security promptly appealed the Biden judge's ruling to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Last week, the appellate court granted the defendants an administrative stay of Menendez's preliminary injunction.

The ACLU of Minnesota rushed to reassure fellow travelers that the "entry of an administrative stay is not a judgment by the Eighth Circuit on the merits or strength of the government's motion to stay the injunction."

RELATED: 'Organized obstruction': Leaked alleged Signal chats show anti-ICE radicals tracking ICE agents, chasing vehicles

Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The liberal outfit filed its opposition to the government's stay request and asked that "the court rule quickly so that protesters and observers can again be protected by the district court's injunction immediately."

Tear gas back on the menu

To the likely chagrin of anti-ICE activists in Minnesota, an Eighth Circuit panel comprising two judges nominated by former President George W. Bush and one judge appointed by President Donald Trump granted the DHS a full stay of Menendez's injunction, claiming that it "is unlikely to survive the government's interlocutory appeal."

The court highlighted two reasons why the "government has made 'a strong showing' that its challenge to the injunction 'is likely to succeed on the merits,'" the first of which is that the "grant of relief to such a broad uncertified class is just a universal injunction by another name."

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court determined in Trump v. CASA Inc. that the nationwide injunctions weaponized against the Trump administration by district court judges "likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has given to federal courts."

"Even if 'courts may issue temporary relief to a putative class,' this one has no chance of getting certified," wrote the appellate court.

The Eighth Circuit panel noted further that the radicals whom the ACLU of Minnesota want to shield from consequence aren't exactly the "peaceful and unobstructive" protesters imagined by the lesser court.

"We accessed and viewed the same videos the district court did," said the appellate court. "What they show is observers and protesters engaging in a wide range of conduct, some of it peaceful but much of it not."

In addition to the radicals engaging in a variety of behaviors, federal agents also respond in a variety of ways such that "there are no 'questions of law or fact common to the class' ... that would allow the court to decide all their claims in 'one stroke.'"

The second reason cited by the panel for why the Trump administration's challenge is likely to succeed is that the "injunction is too vague" and requires a fair bit of mind-reading on the part of federal agents.

"Even the provision that singles out the use of 'pepper-spray or similar nonlethal munitions and crowd dispersal tools' requires federal agents to predict what the district court would consider 'peaceful and unobstructive protest activity,'" wrote the court. "The videos underscore how difficult it would be for them to decide who has crossed the line: They show a fast-changing mix of peaceful and obstructive conduct, with many protesters getting in officers' faces and blocking their vehicles as they conduct their activities, only for some of them to then rejoin the crowd and intermix with others who were merely recording and observing the scene."

The injunction's breadth and vagueness also threatens to undermine the public interest as federal agents might begin hesitating in the execution of their lawful duties, said the court.

Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the ruling as a "WIN AGAINST JUDICIAL ACTIVISM IN MINNESOTA."

"Liberal judges tried to handcuff our federal law enforcement officers, restrict their actions, and put their safety at risk when responding to violent agitators," wrote Bondi. "The DOJ went to court. We got a temporary stay. NOW, the 8th Circuit has fully agreed that this reckless attempt to undermine law enforcement cannot stand."

Deepinder Mayell, executive director of the ACLU of Minnesota, said in a statement obtained by Blaze News, "As federal agents claim they can act with impunity and kill people in our streets, this ruling is incredibly disappointing. But we’ll be clear: Minnesotans have the right to safely assemble, document, and protest federal immigration agents' actions in our communities, and we will continue to work to ensure all Minnesotans are able to exercise those rights without fear of being harmed by ICE or any other government actor."

Editor's note: This article has been edited after publication to incorporate comment from the ACLU of Minnesota.

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