A US federal judge has temporarily blocked the administration of President Donald Trump from detaining refugees in Minnesota awaiting permanent resident status and ordered the release of those in detention.
Authorities launched a programme this month to re-examine the legal status of the approximately 5,600 refugees in Minnesota who have not yet been given green cards.
In his order, US District Judge John Tunheim said that the Trump administration could continue to enforce immigration laws and review refugees' status, but that it must do so "without arresting and detaining refugees."
"Refugees have a legal right to be in the United States, a right to work, a right to live peacefully - and importantly, a right not to be subjected to the terror of being arrested and detained without warrants or cause in their homes or on their way to religious services or to buy groceries," Judge Tunheim wrote.
"At its best, America serves as a haven of individual liberties in a world too often full of tyranny and cruelty. We abandon that ideal when we subject our neighbours to fear and chaos."
The order drew a quick rebuke from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who leads Mr Trump's hardline immigration policy.
"The judicial sabotage of democracy is unending," Mr Miller wrote on X.
Judge Tunheim's order requires any refugee detained under the Minnesota status review, known as Operation PARRIS, to be "immediately released from custody."
Refugees awaiting their permanent resident status "have undergone rigorous background checks and vetting, been approved by multiple federal agencies for entry, been given permission to work, received support from the government, and been resettled in the United States," he wrote.
"These individuals were admitted to the country, have followed the rules, and are waiting to have their status adjusted to lawful permanent residents of the United States."
Meanwhile, Mr Trump has warned Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey he was "playing with fire" for insisting that local police would refrain from enforcing federal immigration laws, a day after the president said he intended to "de-escalate a little bit" in the city.
Amid the mixed signals from the White House, tensions remained high in Minneapolis, where observers and activists said deportation raids carried out by Mr Trump's "Operation Metro Surge" had not slackened but seemed more targeted.
The city has seen daily confrontations between protesters and heavily armed immigration agents, with unrest heightened after two US citizens were shot dead by federal officers - Renee Good on 7 January and Alex Pretti on Saturday.
Demonstrations have also spread to cities large and small across the country in recent weeks.
A day after striking a conciliatory tone in their public comments following weeks of heated rhetoric, Mr Trump and other top administration officials were talking tough again yesterday.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media that federal agents had arrested 16 people in Minnesota for allegedly assaulting, resisting or impeding federal law enforcement.
"Nothing will stop us from continuing to make arrests and enforce the law," she wrote.
At the same time, the two immigration officers who opened fire on Mr Pretti have been placed on administrative leave, according to a US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, adding that it was "standard protocol."
Mr Trump's administration had indicated on Tuesday it would soften its approach, dispatching border czar Tom Homan to takeover the operation from Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol official whose aggressive tactics drew widespread criticism.
A senior administration official said Mr Homan's arrival would mark a shift to more traditional, targeted operations rather than the broad street sweeps Mr Bovino has led in multiple cities. Yet it remained unclear how much would materially change in a city where federal agents have regularly clashed with demonstrators.
Observers and activists said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity appeared to slow somewhat on Tuesday before resuming in full yesterday. They said there did now appear to be more of an emphasis on targeted exercises.
Yesterday, ICE agents were seen in several parts of the city rolling up to homes and businesses in caravans of three vehicles with six to eight agents in total, then knocking on doors and looking around, seemingly for a specific person.
If that person were not found, observers said, the agents were seen leaving. In past weeks, agents might have begun randomly stopping people and demanding documented proof of legal status, a practice that has enraged community members and led to heated encounters.
It was difficult to know precisely how many raids were taking place. Authorities do not share such information, and volunteers who track ICE and Border Patrol vehicles say many of their encrypted communications have broken into hyper-local chats among small groups, partly to avoid infiltration by federal agents.
"They definitely shift around," said Patty O'Keefe, a community ICE observer in south Minneapolis, "let up for a few days so people let their guard down, I think."
One observer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he did not believe the change in tone from Mr Trump meant there would be a meaningful slowdown in detentions.
"Like everybody out here, though, we can hope that maybe the change of having Homan come in could mean that ICE will shoot and kill less, that they won't attack people like us keeping watch on them," he said.
Among the 16 individuals who Ms Bondi said were in custody was Abdikadir Noor, a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit that accused immigration agents of using excessive force against protesters.
A federal judge in that lawsuit issued an injunction to restrain officers from arresting or tear-gassing peaceful protesters, but a US appeals court has lifted that order while the case as a whole remains under review.
Under mounting political pressure, Mr Trump had dialled back his rhetorical attacks on Mr Frey and Governor Tim Walz after speaking with both Democrats in the wake of Mr Pretti's killing, vowing to work with them to ease friction.
But on social media, Mr Trump faulted Mr Frey for reiterating the position of local leaders that the city would not enforce immigration laws. Mr Trump wrote: "Could somebody in his inner sanctum please explain that this statement is a very serious violation of the Law, and that he is PLAYING WITH FIRE!"
Mr Trump has threatened to cut off funding for states that include so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, which limit how much cooperation they give federal immigration authorities.
In response, Mr Frey wrote on social media, "The job of our police is to keep people safe, not enforce fed immigration laws."
Mr Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse, was shot dead during protests near his home on Saturday, and some administration officials immediately accused him of planning to kill officers, citing the handgun he was carrying.
But video verified by Reuters showed Mr Pretti held only a phone in his hand when Border Patrol agents pushed him to the ground. Video also showed that an agent found Mr Pretti's gun near his waist and removed it seconds before another agent shot the restrained man in the back.
The killing, coupled with the fatal shooting of Ms Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, by an ICE officer, has become a political crisis for Mr Trump. A growing number of Republicans in Congress have called for independent investigations into the shooting.
