Minnesota, Twin Cities sue Trump administration over surge of federal forces

The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul filed a lawsuit Monday to block the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operation in the wake of the killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer last week.

The lawsuit, which names Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, among others, argues that federal agencies including DHS, ICE and Customs and Border Protection have acted unconstitutionally and unlawfully by violating the state’s sovereignty and civil rights laws.

At a news conference announcing the action, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison accused the federal government of an “unlawful, unprecedented surge of the federal law enforcement agents into Minnesota.” Ellison said the state and cities are suing “because this has to stop. It just has to stop.”

Ellison called the mass arrests of people by federal agents in the state “warrantless and racist,” and said the immigration officers’ presence had made the community “less safe.” He said the federal operation had strained Minnesota’s economy and local law enforcement. He also referred to the Minneapolis school system, which briefly canceled classes after Good’s killing and is offering families a remote learning option for one month due to concerns that children might feel unsafe.

He said the recent child care fraud allegations against those with Somali heritage were a “pretext” for the federal operations.

“Randomly stopping people on the streets because you don’t like their accent isn’t going to stop fraud,” Ellison said.

The lawsuit comes less than a week after ICE officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, in Minneapolis while she was in her vehicle.

Noem and other Trump administration officials have characterized Good as a “domestic terrorist” and repeatedly said that she had tried to “run over” immigration officers.

Several videos of the shooting indicate that Good was driving away from the officer when he then stood in front of Good’s vehicle and shot her through the windshield.

Minnesota saw a massive surge of federal agents beginning earlier this month, with roughly 1,000 additional officers from ICE, the DHS and Border Patrol, deployed to Minneapolis and St. Paul. Noem said over the weekend that “hundreds more” federal officers would be sent to the city.

Minneapolis is one of many cities targeted by the administration in a nationwide crackdown on crime and immigration. Since President Donald Trump took office for a second term last year, immigration agencies and National Guard troops have been sent to cities including Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Memphis, Tennessee.

Several of these cities, and their states, have also sued the Trump administration over the presence federal law enforcement agents.