An 18-year-old at the center of a chaotic immigration arrest inside the Hennepin County Government Center is back out of federal custody after a judge ruled agents had not shown they had a warrant to take him.
Junior de Jesus Herrera Berrios was tackled and handcuffed in the government center lobby last Tuesday after a brief foot chase that had lawyers and court observers blowing whistles and shouting as it unfolded. Although he is no longer in federal custody, he still faces a state first-degree drug possession charge from an earlier January arrest.
Judge Rejects Warrant Claim
In a written order last Friday, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank said the government had provided no evidence that federal agents possessed a warrant when they detained Herrera Berrios. He also found that Title 8 immigration rules did not apply because Herrera Berrios, in the judge’s words, "has been in the United States for over three years." Several filings in the case remain sealed, according to the Star Tribune.
How The Lobby Arrest Unfolded
Herrera Berrios had just left a courtroom when federal agents moved in. According to FOX 9, officers chased him through the public lobby and tackled him near a fountain, as onlookers recorded the fray on their phones and blew whistles. The crowd followed as agents escorted him out of the building and into a vehicle, turning an otherwise routine court day into a very public confrontation in the middle of downtown.
Federal And Local Responses
The Department of Homeland Security, in a public statement, labeled Herrera Berrios a "criminal illegal alien" and initially said he would remain in ICE custody. On the other side, Hennepin County Chief Public Defender Mike Berger and other defense advocates argue that arrests in and around courthouses are effectively turning those spaces into "hunting grounds for the most vulnerable in our community," the Star Tribune reported.
What It Means For Prosecutors
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has warned that detaining people in or near courtrooms can derail prosecutions if defendants are taken away in the middle of their cases or if witnesses decide they are too scared to show up. That kind of disruption, she said, can lead to cases being dismissed. Prosecutors now have to press ahead with the county drug case against Herrera Berrios while community scrutiny of federal enforcement tactics remains high, FOX 9 reported.
Broader Context: Operation Metro Surge
The arrest has quickly become a flashpoint in "Operation Metro Surge," the federal initiative that has ramped up immigration arrests in Minnesota since early 2025 and has prompted legal challenges. A recent Associated Press report noted that another federal judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security to provide detained immigrants with prompt access to attorneys before they are transferred, a ruling that highlights growing judicial scrutiny of surge-related enforcement.
For now, Judge Frank’s order means Herrera Berrios remains out of federal custody while his state case moves forward. The dispute has also reignited a broader debate over how, and where, immigration enforcement should intersect with local courthouses, with attorneys on both sides watching closely to see whether similar federal operations continue inside Minnesota’s busiest government center.
