Minneapolis — A group of local prosecutors is concerned about Recent immigration enforcement operations A project was launched Wednesday to develop a strategy Seek accountability For what they consider federal overreach and Unconstitutional behavior.
The program is called “Anti-Federal Overreach,” a sarcastic reference to Obscene abbreviation It is very popular in memes and has been used by members of the Trump administration to taunt opponents.
Minnesota officials, along with criminal justice experts and former federal prosecutors, are increasingly critical Federal response to the aggressive tactics used by immigration officers In Minneapolis and surrounding areas. the Two civilians were killed By federal officers, incl The fatal shooting of Alex Pretty On Saturday, it attracted an increase Criticisms from public officialsincluded Republicansand Widespread protests.
Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia district attorney and one of the group’s founding members, said he had never seen law enforcement before. Tactics and position It has recently appeared in American cities.
He said that the officers who hide their faces and badge numbers are unprofessional and that they received bad orders from the authorities with a poor understanding of the law. He cited Vice President J.D. Vance’s announcement that officers enjoy immunity from prosecution for any of their actions.
“A functioning Department of Justice is gone. Functional attorneys’ offices in the United States that enforce the law fairly are gone. And the good, qualified officials within those organizations retire, resign, or leave,” Krasner said. “It used to be that the federal government was relied upon to rein in rogue sheriffs who killed people on the side of the road…but now the federal government is the rogue sheriffs.”
He said local officials must fill the gap where federal authorities fail, in part because there is no federal clemency authority for state-level convictions.
The Associated Press reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on the group and its accusations and did not receive an immediate response. But Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other leaders have defended officers’ practices and tactics in Minneapolis and elsewhere as constitutional and necessary.
Federal officials denied Minnesota investigators access to the scene after the fatal shooting Pretty and Rene is good. They also said the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division does not need to open an investigation into fatal shootings, despite it being a long-standing practice after such deadly encounters.
The actions of immigration officers involved in enforcement operations have negative ramifications for the criminal justice system, said the group, which includes Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty — Minneapolis and St. Paul are part of the county — as well as prosecutors from Austin, Texas, several jurisdictions in Virginia and others.
Immigration agents monitor court proceedings, typically targeting and arresting people right outside the buildings, Krasner noted. This means that victims of crime are afraid to report it, and witnesses and even accused are afraid to go to court.
He said local officials are increasingly concerned about practices such as warrantless entry and unlawful arrests along with other coercive enforcement tactics.
“I think what we’re feeling is the same thing the country is feeling,” Krasner said. “We generally don’t react well, although the country seems to understand it now. It’s as if they were willing to push and push and push, and they were pushed off a cliff… and now it’s too far away.”