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Iowa AG Brenna Bird leads effort opposing limits on ICE actions in Minnesota
Attorney general joins GOP-led legal effort to overturn federal injunction
Jan. 30, 2026 12:42 pm
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Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has joined 20 other Republican attorneys general in urging a federal appeals court to lift restrictions placed on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents operating in Minnesota, arguing that a recent court order improperly constrains federal law enforcement during immigration operations.
Bird filed a friend-of-the-court brief Jan. 21 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, backing an emergency motion by the Trump administration to stay and reverse a federal judge’s ruling that found ICE and other federal agents were likely violating Minnesotans’ constitutional rights during protests and observation of immigration enforcement activities.
The brief was filed before federal officers shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive-care nurse, during a confrontation with immigration agents in Minneapolis on Saturday, Jan. 24 — the second fatal shooting involving federal enforcement in the city since large numbers of Homeland Security personnel deployed there this winter.
The dispute stems from a preliminary injunction issued Jan. 16 by U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez in Minneapolis, which barred ICE and Homeland Security agents from arresting peaceful protesters, deploying pepper spray or similar chemical agents against non-violent observers, or stopping vehicles that lawfully follow federal agents at a safe distance.
Menendez’s 80-page order followed weeks of escalating confrontations between federal immigration agents and community members during “Operation Metro Surge,” a Department of Homeland Security initiative that has brought approximately 3,000 federal personnel into Minnesota. The judge concluded that protesters and observers had shown a likelihood of success on claims that federal agents violated First and Fourth Amendments through excessive force, retaliatory arrests and intimidation.
In her ruling, Menendez wrote that while law enforcement may act against obstruction or violence, the Constitution protects peaceful observation, criticism and assembly. She ordered agents to desist from using non-lethal munitions against non-violent individuals and from stopping vehicles solely for observing or following ICE operations.
Bird and the other Republican attorneys general argue the injunction goes too far and rests on flawed legal reasoning. Their brief contends that the district court improperly granted class-wide relief without first certifying a class under federal procedural rules and failed to require plaintiffs to post a bond, which is typically mandatory when courts enjoin government action.
The states also assert that federal agents are facing increasingly aggressive interference and that restricting crowd-control tools undermines officer safety and the enforcement of federal law. The brief characterizes the injunction as an “obey-the-law” order that exceeds the court’s authority and should be vacated.
White House and Department of Homeland Security officials have said the decision embraces what they describe as a misleading narrative about ICE conduct and ignores the dangers officers face during protests. The administration is expected to pursue an expedited appeal.
The Minnesota injunction followed similar federal court orders in Los Angeles and Chicago limiting law-enforcement tactics against protesters and journalists.
Bird’s involvement has drawn criticism from Democrats in Iowa, including Nate Willems, who is running to challenge her in the 2026 attorney general race. Willems, a former state lawmaker and labor attorney from Mount Vernon, called on Bird to withdraw Iowa from the case and support efforts to de-escalate tensions surrounding immigration enforcement.
“While Chuck Grassley and Ashley Hinson are seeking to de-escalate a deadly situation in Minnesota by calling for a thorough investigation of these federal agents, Brenna Bird is doing the opposite,” Willems said in a statement. “We need a secure border and safe communities, but Brenna Bird is seeking to give a green light to tactics which have resulted in the killing of American citizens. While other leaders are trying to calm things down, she is using her position and Iowa taxpayer resources to argue in favor of escalation.”
Download: bird-tincher-brief.pdf
Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com
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