Immigration enforcement arrives in Maine as a court freezes restrictions on tactics in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Maine became the latest target of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement crackdown, while a federal appeals court on Wednesday suspended a decision that prohibited federal officers from using tear gas or pepper spray against peaceful protesters in Minnesota.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was persuaded to freeze a judge’s ruling that bars retaliation against the public in Minnesota, including detaining people who follow agents in cars, while the government pursues an appeal. Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities, has been underway for weeks.

Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the appeals court on X, saying the Justice Department "will protect federal law enforcement agents from criminals in the streets AND activist judges in the courtroom.”

After the stay was issued, Greg Bovino of U.S. Border Patrol, who has commanded the administration’s big-city immigration campaign, was seen on video repeatedly warning protesters on a snowy Minneapolis street “Gas is coming!” before tossing a canister into the crowd that released green smoke.

Minnesota is a major focus of immigration sweeps by agencies under the Department of Homeland Security and is where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer on Jan. 7. State and local officials who oppose the campaign were served with federal grand jury subpoenas Tuesday for records that might suggest they were trying to stifle enforcement.

A political action committee founded by former Vice President Kamala Harris urged donors to contribute to a defense fund in aid of Gov. Tim Walz, her 2024 running mate.

“The Justice Department is going after Trump’s enemies,” Harris’ email said, referring to President Donald Trump.

In Maine, the Department of Homeland Security named the enforcement operation Catch of the Day in an apparent play on the state's seafood industry. Maine has relatively few residents who are in the United States illegally but has a notable presence of refugees in its largest cities, particularly from Africa.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, said she won't grant a request for confidential license plates sought by Customs and Border Protection, a decision that reflects her disgust over “abuses of power” by immigration enforcers.

"We have not revoked existing plates but have paused issuance of new plates. We want to be assured that Maine plates will not be used for lawless purposes,” Bellows said.

A message seeking comment from CBP was not immediately returned.

Portland City Council member Pious Ali, a native of Ghana, said there's much anxiety about ICE's presence in Maine's largest city.

“There are immigrants who live here who work in our hospitals, they work in our schools, they work in our hotels, they are part of the economic engine of our community," Ali said.

Bovino said more than 10,000 people in the U.S. illegally have been arrested in Minnesota in the past year, including 3,000 “of some of the most dangerous offenders” in the last six weeks during Operation Metro Surge.

Julia Decker, policy director at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, said advocates have no way of knowing whether the government’s arrest numbers and descriptions of the people in custody are accurate.

Separately, a federal judge said he’s prepared to grant bond and release two men after hearing conflicting testimony about an alleged assault on an immigration officer. Prosecutors are appealing. One of the men was shot in the thigh by the officer during the encounter last week.

The officer said he was repeatedly struck with a broom and with snow shovels while trying to subdue and arrest Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna following a car crash and foot chase.

Aljorna and Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis denied assaulting the officer. Neither video evidence nor three eyewitnesses supported the officer’s account about the broom and shovels or that there had been a third person involved.

Aljorna and Sosa-Celis do not have violent criminal records, their attorneys said, and both had been working as DoorDash drivers at night to avoid encounters with federal agents.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko said they still could be detained by ICE even if released from custody in the assault case.

The Minneapolis and Saint Paul city councils are pushing for Walz to implement a pause on evictions across the state so families can shelter in place safely.

"No worker should have to choose between keeping a roof over their head and risking being kidnapped by ICE on the way to work,” Minneapolis City Council Minority Leader Robin Wonsley said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the grassroots Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee called for the arrest of the officer who shot Good.

“We need our mayor, we need our elected officials to stand up to this violence,” MIRAC spokesperson Erika Zurawski said at a news conference Wednesday. “On the federal level, we mean to make sure none of our U.S. representatives vote for any more funding for ICE.”

Good was in her vehicle blocking a Minneapolis street where ICE officers were operating. Trump administration officials say the officer shot her in self-defense, although videos of the encounter show the Honda Pilot slowly turning away from him.

Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press reporters Mark Vancleave and Sarah Raza in Minneapolis and Ed White in Detroit contributed.

A poster reading "Bovino Go Home," featuring an altered image of U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, is displayed in the snow outside a home on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

A human skeleton decoration dressed in a flannel shirt stands above a handmade sign reading "ICE OUT NOW!" outside a home in a residential neighborhood on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

Tear gas is deployed as Federal agents make arrests on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Federal agents detain a person on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Tear gas is deployed as Federal agents make arrests on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

U.S. Border Patrol agents remove a person from their vehicle, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

ADDS IDENTIFICATION - Aliya Rahman is detained by federal agents near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Protesters display two magazines of live ammunition found on the ground after federal immigration officers deployed tear gas and disrupted a demonstration outside the Bishop Whipple Federal Building, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

ADDS IDENTIFICATION: Teyana Gibson Brown, second from right, wife of Garrison Gibson, reacts after a federal immigration officer used a battering ram to break down a door before arresting Garrison Gibson, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal immigration officers get in a car as they prepare to deploy tear gas at a protest, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal agents stand outside a convenience store on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Observers look on as Federal agents stand outside a convenience store on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino stands with Federal agents outside a convenience store on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

People arrive for an MLK rally on, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026 in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

ICE agents make use of the facilities at a gas station, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino speaks during a news conference Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his wife, Gwen Walz, attend a vigil honoring Renee Good on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn., outside the Minnesota State Capitol. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)

A federal immigration officer looks through a window of a home Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, in Maplewood, Minn. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

TOKYO (AP) — Oil prices continued to surge on worries of a prolonged Iran war but most Asian markets that were open Friday rose moderately in cautious trading.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose 11.4% to $111.54 a barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.8% to $109.03 per barrel.

“A more extended conflict raises the threat to physical infrastructure, extends disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz, and will entail a longer post-war recovery period, with price impacts spilling over later into the year,” according to a report from BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions.

The U.S. relies on the Persian Gulf for only a fraction of the oil it imports, but oil is a commodity and prices are set in a global market.

The situation is very different in Asia. Japan, for example, needs access to the Strait of Hormuz for much of the nation’s oil imports or would need alternative routes. But some analysts say Japan and other nations are counting on an agreement with Iran to allow fuel to be transported through the strait.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 1.3% in Friday afternoon trading to 53,164.30. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.0% to 5,391.78. The Shanghai Composite sank 1.0% to 3,881.99. Trading was closed in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Indonesia and India for the Good Friday holiday.

Wall Street, where trading is closed Friday, finished its first winning week since the start of the Iran war, although trading started out with a decline driven by a surge in oil prices.

That came after U.S. President Donald Trump late Wednesday vowed the U.S. will continue to attack Iran and failed to offer a clear timetable for ending the conflict in the Middle East.

The S&P 500 rose 7.37 points, or 0.1%, to 6,582.69. Several days of solid gains this week helped the benchmark index notch a 3.4% gain for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 61.07 points, or 0.1%, to 46,504.67. The Nasdaq composite rose 38.23 points, or 0.2%, to 21,879.18. Both indexes also notched weekly gains.

Treasury yields remained relatively steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to to 4.30% from 4.32%.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 159.64 Japanese yen from 159.53 yen. The euro cost $1.1538, inching up from $1.1537.

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader talks on the phone at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

President Donald Trump arrives to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

Motorcyclists crowd into a filling station as they wait their turn to buy fuel, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)

A currency trader works near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)