An important deadline arrives Monday in the legal standoff between Minnesota and the federal government, as the U.S. Department of Justice plans to respond to a lawsuit seeking an immediate stop to the surge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the state through a temporary injunction.

While Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday, the judge said the issue was too important to wait.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez is considering whether to grant an immediate temporary restraining order limiting ICE activities. She said last week she would not issue the temporary restraining order until she heard a response from the federal government.

The lawsuit was filed late last week by the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The suit argues the unprecedented surge of an estimated 3,000 federal agents is endangering citizens. It accuses ICE of violating the First and Tenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

According to the lawsuit, Minnesotans have been "unlawfully seized and been the victims of excessive force by federal immigration agents for exercising their First Amendment rights to observe or protest federal government conduct."

The court document also alleges that DHS agents have conducted warrantless arrests, citing an instance on Dec. 5 when a federal agent entered a south Minneapolis restaurant without a warrant. When the general manager of the restaurant asked for it, the agent said, "We don't need one."  

Menendez is the same judge who blocked the use of pepper spray, nonlethal munitions

The notice of appeal comes days after Menendez blocked federal agents deployed to Minnesota, as part of the Trump administration's immigration operations, from using pepper spray or nonlethal munitions on, or arresting, peaceful protesters in the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota. 

The order also bars federal law enforcement from stopping or detaining drivers and passengers when there is "no reasonable articulable suspicion" that people driving near protests are forcibly interfering with law enforcement operations. 

On Sunday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the order "a little ridiculous." 

"We only use those chemical agents when there's violence happening and perpetuating and you need to be able to establish law and order to keep people safe," Noem said. "So that judge's order didn't change anything for how we're operating on the ground, because it's basically telling us to do what we've already been doing."