Who is Katherine Menendez? US judge rejects bid to halt Trump’s ICE crackdown in Minnesota

A federal judge on Saturday rejected an attempt by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to block a major surge of federal immigration enforcement under President Trump, ruling that the state is unlikely to succeed in its constitutional challenge.

In a 30-page decision, US District Judge Katherine Menendez declined to issue an injunction that would have halted “Operation Metro Surge,” a large-scale deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel across Minnesota.




“Plaintiffs ask the Court to extend existing precedent to a new context where its application is less direct,” Menendez wrote, referring to the state’s 10th Amendment claim. “None of the cases on which they rely have even come close.”

Menendez acknowledged that the lawsuit raised serious concerns, at one point suggesting federal agents may have engaged in racial profiling or used excessive force, but said the legal standard for sweeping preliminary relief had not been met.

She also ruled that stopping the operation would significantly harm the federal government’s immigration enforcement efforts.

“If that injunction went too far, then the one at issue here — halting the entire operation — certainly would,” she added, referencing a separate ICE-related case recently paused by an appeals court.

Who is Katherine Menendez?

Katherine Marie Menendez (born 1971) is a US district judge for the District of Minnesota, a position she has held since 2021 after being appointed by former President Joe Biden.

Before joining the federal bench, Menendez spent much of her legal career as a public defender. She became an assistant federal defender in 1999 and served in the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Minnesota until 2016, representing defendants in complex federal criminal cases.

On January 26, 2026, Menendez heard oral arguments in Minnesota’s lawsuit against the federal government, just days after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a case that has intensified scrutiny of ICE operations in the state.

ICE operations in Minnesota

Minnesota has emerged as a flashpoint in Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown. First announced in December, “Operation Metro Surge” has brought nearly 3,000 ICE and CBP personnel into the state, particularly targeting Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Public anger escalated after the January 24 killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, during a protest on Nicollet Avenue in south Minneapolis. Federal officials claimed Pretti posed a threat, but video footage shows he was not pointing a weapon and appeared to have been disarmed before being shot.

Earlier this month, Renee Good, a mother of three, was also killed during a separate federal enforcement incident. The deaths have sparked nationwide protests and renewed scrutiny of ICE, which recorded 32 deaths in custody in 2025, its deadliest year in two decades.

Despite Saturday’s ruling, Minnesota officials say the lawsuit will continue as the case moves forward.