Minnesota filed a lawsuit against the federal government Monday in an attempt to block the surge of immigration activity in the Twin Cities.
Attorney General Keith Ellison announced the lawsuit alongside Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her at a press conference Monday. The cities are joining the state in the litigation filed against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Ellison said a court date has not been set, but that he’s hopeful the state can seek an injunction as soon as Tuesday asking a judge to order an immediate pause in what he called unlawful federal activity.
“This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities and Minnesota, and it must stop,” Ellison said. “DHS agents have sown chaos and terror across the metropolitan area and in cities across the state of Minnesota.”
Minnesota is being targeted for its diversity and disagreements with the federal government, Ellison said, not due to a large population of undocumented residents. The result has been rampant constitutional violations, he said, including the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis.
“These poorly trained, aggressive and armed agents of the federal state have terrorized Minnesota with widespread unlawful conduct. They’re making unconstitutional arrests and using excessive force,” Ellison said.
The lawsuit seeks to end racial profiling, immigration action at sensitive locations like houses of worship and schools, excessive force and retaliation against public observers and protesters.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said last week that DHS was deploying 2,000 agents to the Twin Cities, making it the largest ever federal immigration enforcement operation. The deployment has flooded the Twin Cities with ICE and Border Patrol agents.
Her, St. Paul’s newly sworn-in mayor, said federal agents are going far beyond standard immigration enforcement. Her came to the United States as a refugee, and said she’s been carrying her passport amongst the surge.
“Federal law enforcement is racially profiling our residents, creating mass chaos and undermining the relationship between local government in our communities. We will not stand idly by and watch this happen,” Her said. “While we know we can’t control federal agents, we will pull every lever we have to fight back in every way that we can.”
The mayors described widespread fear among residents, documented episodes of racial profiling, and instances of physical abuse against protesters, observers and press. The federal surge is straining local resources, Frey and Her said.
“We have police officers who are tired, we’ve seen damage substantially, because we’re now having to pay a ton of overtime, millions of dollars of emergency overtime for law enforcement,” Frey said. “Small businesses are losing significant revenue with some worried they may not survive this at all. People are scared to take their kids to school or daycare. They’re scared to go to work.”
ICE stopped a crew of Minneapolis Public Works employees last week, Frey said, and asked non-white workers for their IDs without checking their white colleague’s ID.
Ellison projected confidence in the lawsuit’s merits. ICE has statutory responsibilities that they are exceeding, he said, and they are required to follow the law.
He also said he expects ICE to obey court orders if the lawsuit is successful in pursuing a temporary restraining order that commands them to stop their activity.
“I believe they will abide by the orders,” Ellison said. “There are ample ways to make a miscreant violator of a court order obey a court order, one of them is a contempt of court, but let’s not jump there.”
