MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Minnesota and the Twin Cities are suing the Trump administration to stop its latest immigration enforcement surge, alleging that the increased federal actions are unconstitutional and a violation of federal law.
Attorney General Keith Ellison at a Monday press conference called the immigration enforcement surge an “invasion.”
“The deployment of thousands of armed, masked (Department of Homeland Security) agents to Minnesota has done our state serious harm. This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities and Minnesota, and it must stop,” Ellison said.
Tensions between federal agents and protesters continue to escalate following the Wednesday killing of Renee Good by federal immigration officer Jonathan Ross.
The suit alleges that the influx of federal agents under the Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge” harms Minnesota’s police powers and violates state sovereignty, according to the lawsuit. These rights are guaranteed under the 10th Amendment, the lawsuit states.
(The 10th Amendment argument was once used by Jim Crow states that resisted civil rights laws, but Ellison and the cities are seeking to use the oft-derided 10th as a tool to protect civil rights.)
Ellison and the cities are also alleging that the federal agents are using unreasonable force against Minnesotans and arresting people without warrants, regardless of their immigration status and based on their perceived race — violations of the federal Administrative Procedure Act.
Illinois and the city of Chicago on Monday also filed a similar lawsuit against the Trump administration. Illinois is suing over allegedly unlawful tactics used by Customs and Border Protection and ICE agents in the state.
The Trump administration will likely fight the Minnesota and Illinois lawsuits.
Cities and states in the past have sued the Trump administration to stop the deployment of National Guard troops. Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court left in place a ruling by a federal judge in Chicago that bars the Trump administration from deploying National Guard troops in Illinois.
But the high court has let immigration officials arrest people based on their appearance and what language they speak, with the court’s conservative super-majority consistently giving Trump wide latitude to exert executive power.
The Trump administration has said that fraud of public programs is a driving factor behind the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota.
But Ellison said that stopping fraud is a pretext for the Trump administration to punish its political opponents.
“The real reason — it’s no secret. Donald Trump and his administration have been targeting people, cities and states that don’t agree with him politically,” Ellison said. “The Trump administration’s decision to target Minnesota and Twin Cities is motivated by a desire to retaliate against Trump’s perceived political opponents.”
This story first appeared on Minnesota Reformer.
