WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) – The Trump administration said on Saturday it was appealing a ruling by a federal judge that put limits on tactics employed by U.S. immigration agents operating in Minneapolis.
In a brief filing, lawyers for the Department of Justice told the court they were appealing an order issued by the judge on Friday that barred federal officers from arresting or tear-gassing peaceful demonstrators and observers.
The order was in response to a lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies on December 17, three weeks before an immigration agent fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis. The shooting spawned waves of protests.
The Trump administration has sent thousands of immigration agents to the Minneapolis area in recent weeks as part of a campaign to ramp up deportations of people in the country without authorization.
Tensions over the deployment have mounted considerably since an ICE agent fatally shot Good.
The court case was brought on behalf of six protesters and observers who claimed their constitutional rights had been infringed by the actions of ICE agents.
The order explicitly prohibits federal officers from detaining people who are peacefully protesting or merely observing the officers, unless there is reasonable suspicion that they are interfering with law enforcement or have committed a crime.
Federal agents also are banned from using pepper spray, tear gas or other crowd-control munitions against peaceful demonstrators or bystanders observing and recording the immigration enforcement operations.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Caitlin Webber and David Gregorio)
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