On May 6, 2026, a federal judge denied two Minnesota school districts’ request to temporarily stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity on school grounds in a lawsuit that ultimately seeks to overturn a Trump administration policy allowing such enforcement.
The case was filed by Duluth Public Schools and Fridley Public Schools and was filed in February 2026 in response to federal Operation Metro Surge, which led to a reported increase in ICE activity on or around school grounds in Minnesota.
According to the Judge, the administration’s 2025 guidance undoing protections for schools and other sensitive locations “did not change DHS’s ability or authority to engage in enforcement activity at or near protected areas…What has changed, evidently, is DHS’s willingness — not its authority — to conduct immigration enforcement activity at or near protected areas like schools,”
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