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Published : 26 Jan 2026, 07:09 PM
A US judge on Monday considered a request to temporarily stop the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minnesota, following the fatal shooting of a second US citizen over the weekend that sparked a fierce backlash.
"It kind of goes without saying that we are in shockingly unusual times," US District Judge Katherine Menendez said as the hearing got underway.
Menendez, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, has said there are few precedents to guide her as she weighs whether to order placing limits on the operation.
The state and the cities of Minneapolis and St Paul have argued that masked, heavily armed agents are involved in "unlawful, violent conduct," including racial profiling and raids of residents' homes without warrants. They say the 2,800 agents involved are more than the total number of police in the area.
The Trump administration, in a court filing, has called the request an "absurdity" that would make federal law an afterthought.
The hearing was expected to last several hours and Menendez could issue a decision when it concludes.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said he would send the White House border security czar Tom Homan to the state, following Saturday's shooting of a 37-year-old nurse, Alex Pretti, by immigration agents during a confrontation with protesters in Minneapolis.
Homeland Security Department officials have characterised the incident as an attack and say agents fired in self-defence after Pretti approached with a handgun.
But video from the scene verified by Reuters contradicted the administration's version of events. Footage showed that Pretti was holding a phone, not a gun, in his hand as agents wrestled him to the ground and that they then removed a gun that was stored near Pretti's waistband before fatally shooting him. Pretti was a licensed gun owner.
TRUMP 'REVIEWING EVERYTHING'
It was not clear whether Trump's decision to dispatch Homan to the state amounts to an escalation of the administration's presence or a climbdown.
Unlike other top immigration officials, Homan has not publicly spoken about the Pretti incident, while other administration officials have characterised the former nurse as a "domestic terrorist."
In a statement, Trump said Homan "has not been involved" in the Minnesota crackdown "but knows and likes many of the people there."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will remain in her job "with the full trust and confidence of the President," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Sunday that his administration is "reviewing everything" about the incident and said immigration officials would eventually withdraw.
The crackdown has spurred massive street protests in below-freezing temperatures, and fierce condemnations by the state's Democratic leaders. Sixty of the state's largest businesses, including Target, 3M, UnitedHealth and US Bancorp, called for an immediate de-escalation of tensions between the state and the Trump administration on Sunday.
Recent Reuters polling indicates that a significant slice of Trump's Republican backers - 39 percent - are wary of the heavy-handed approach, saying harm should be minimised even if this means fewer immigration-related arrests.
In Washington, Democrats in the Senate have said they will oppose a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, raising the likelihood of a partial government shutdown starting on Sunday. Republicans approved a massive budget increase for immigration enforcement last year, but some of them now are demanding answers from the Trump administration.
