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Judge John R. Tunheim (D. Minn.) on Wednesday issued a temporary restraining order barring the Trump administration from arresting and detaining the 5,600 noncitizens in Minnesota who were lawfully admitted to the U.S. as refugees and are waiting to receive lawful permanent resident status. (Opinion and Order.) (WSJ.)
After ICE complied with a court order to release a detained petitioner from custody, Judge Patrick J. Schiltz (D. Minn.) on Wednesday canceled a hearing at which he had ordered the acting director of ICE to appear personally to show cause for why he should not be held in contempt. Judge Schiltz identified nearly 100 court orders ICE has defied in the last month and warned the agency that future noncompliance could result in additional show-cause orders requiring the appearance of government officials. (Order.) (Politico.) See yesterday’s Roundup for background on the proceedings.
Immigrant rights advocates filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota accusing the Department of Homeland Security of unconstitutionally denying detainees at a federal building in Minneapolis access to legal counsel. (Complaint.)
Senate Democrats on Wednesday unveiled their demands to reform immigration enforcement days ahead of the Saturday deadline to fund the government. (WSJ.)
An ICE agent on Tuesday attempted to enter Ecuador’s consulate in Minneapolis without authorization from consular officials, leading the Ecuadorean foreign ministry to file a complaint with the American Embassy in Ecuador. (NYT.)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered details on Wednesday regarding the Trump administration’s “novel” plan to oversee Venezuela. Rubio told lawmakers Venezuela’s interim government has agreed to submit monthly budgets to the White House, which the Times reports will, in turn, “release money from an account funded by the country’s oil sales and initially managed by Qatar.” (NYT.) Rubio told lawmakers, “We only control the dispersal of the money, we don’t control the actual money.” (ABC.)
FBI agents on Wednesday executed a search warrant at an election office in Georgia’s Fulton County for records reportedly related to the 2020 presidential election. A Fulton County Commissioner called the FBI’s search “an assault on voters.” (WSJ.)
President Trump said Wednesday that he would order an attack on Iran “with speed and violence” if the country did not agree to a set of demands, which reportedly include abandonment of its uranium enrichment program, limits on its ballistic missiles, and an end to all support for proxy groups in the Middle East. (NYT.)
Pending Interim Order Applications Involving the U.S. Government in the Supreme Court
Blanche v. Perlmutter: The government filed an emergency application on October 27 requesting the Supreme Court to stay a district court interlocutory injunction that temporarily reinstated Shira Perlmutter to her role as Register of Copyrights while litigation over her removal continues. Chief Justice Roberts formally set a deadline of November 10 for a response to the application. Perlmutter submitted a response on November 10. Blanche submitted a reply on November 12. The Court deferred the application for stay on November 28 pending the Court’s decisions in Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook.
Trump v. Cook: The government filed an emergency application on September 18 requesting the Supreme Court to stay a preliminary injunction issued by a district court that blocked President Trump from removing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Cook filed an opposition to the request on the same day. The Chief Justice formally set a deadline of September 25 for a response to the application. Cook filed a response on September 25. On October 1, the Court deferred action on the stay application pending oral argument in January 2026 and established a supplemental briefing schedule. Additional amicus briefs were filed on October 29. Both sides filed supplemental briefs on November 19 and the Court heard oral argument on Jan. 21, 2026.