Mexico's Supreme Court orders a zoo to improve conditions for Ely the elephant

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a zoo to improve the health of an African elephant named Ely, the first time the country’s highest court has made such a move in favor of an animal.

The court ordered that there be “a constant improvement of her health and physical condition.”

The decision by a panel of four justices upheld a lower court’s order last year in Ely’s favor and experts believe it could set a precedent in Mexico recognizing that animals have rights.

Advocates have argued that Ely suffered from depression, especially since the death of Maggie, the other elephant sharing her habitat, in 2016, as well as illnesses she suffered in captivity. Ely would bang against the walls of her enclosure and lost weight. Her defenders called her “the world’s saddest elephant.”

That was when Diana Valencia, founder and director of the animal rights group Opening Cages and Opening Minds, met Ely. “It really moved me to see the state that she was in, it tore my soul and I made Ely a promise,” Valencia said, who has continued to visit the elephant regularly over the years. She told Ely, “'They aren't going to do the same to you.'”

Ely, who estimated to be between 43 and 45 years old, has lived at the San Juan de Aragon zoo in Mexico City for 13 years since being rescued from a circus.

Wednesday’s ruling follows another high court decision last month when it determined that Mexico City laws against animal mistreatment and cruelty were constitutional.

Valencia conceded that the zoo had improved Ely’s living conditions, but only after public pressure.

The zoo expanded the elephant enclosure and added two more elephants in 2023 and 2024.

Veterinarian Gabriela Uribe Acosta, director of zoo, said she was confident the zoo could fully comply with the court’s order to improve Ely’s life.

She said a team of six people are responsible for keeping her enclosure of more than 78,000 square feet clean and another half dozen people are monitoring her health.

Uribe Acosta dismissed assertions that Ely is depressed. She said the elephant was stable and had improved since the other elephants were added. She moves around more and has new vocalizations.

She said that when Ely arrived in 2012, after years in a circus, she had a problem with her rear right leg that limited her mobility, as well as nutritional deficiencies resulting from a poor diet.

But Wednesday’s order could reverberate beyond Ely. Lawyer Sergio Méndez Silva, litigation coordinator for the local Foundation for Justice, said “Mexico is taking a significant step with a precedent like this and I believe this will mark a before and after.”

Still, Valencia plans to continue fighting for all three of the zoo's elephants to be moved to a sanctuary in Brazil or the United States. “I can't be satisfied because an elephant can't live in captivity, it hurts them mentally,” she said. “It's one of the animals that most suffers in captivity.”

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AP journalist Fernanda Pesce contributed to this report.

Visitors view elephant Ely at the San Juan de Aragon Zoo in Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Mexico’s Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on an effort by advocates to improve conditions for Ely who have filed complaints of alleged animal abuse and abandonment. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Visitors view elephant Ely at the San Juan de Aragon Zoo in Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Mexico’s Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on an effort by advocates to improve conditions for Ely who have filed complaints of alleged animal abuse and abandonment. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

The elephant Ely stands in an enclosure at the San Juan de Aragon Zoo in Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Mexico’s Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on an effort by advocates to improve conditions for Ely who have filed complaints of alleged animal abuse and abandonment. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

The elephant Ely stands in an enclosure at the San Juan de Aragon Zoo in Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Mexico’s Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on an effort by advocates to improve conditions for Ely who have filed complaints of alleged animal abuse and abandonment. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

The elephant Ely stands in an enclosure at the San Juan de Aragon Zoo in Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Mexico’s Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on an effort by advocates to improve conditions for Ely who have filed complaints of alleged animal abuse and abandonment. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

The elephant Ely bathes with sand at the San Juan de Aragon Zoo in Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Mexico’s Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on an effort by advocates to improve conditions for Ely who have filed complaints of animal abuse and abandonment. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.

In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.

Video of the clash taken by The Associated Press showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.

Immigrant advocacy groups have conducted extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.

But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away.

More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News on Sunday that the administration would send additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement.

The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer on Wednesday.

“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”

Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.

People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.

More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .

“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.

The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.

Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.

While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.

“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."

The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.

Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.

Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”

The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests in cities across the country over the weekend, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Oakland, California.

Contributing were Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis; Thomas Strong in Washington; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.

A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)