Minneapolis — A federal judge on Monday will hear arguments on whether she should at least temporarily halt an immigration crackdown in Minnesota that led to the shooting deaths of two people by state officers.
The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul He filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security Earlier this month, five days after Renee Judd was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Saturday’s shooting by a Border Patrol officer Alex Pretty It only added urgency to the issue.
Since the original submission, the state and cities have added significantly to their original request. They are trying to restore the status quo that existed before the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge on December 1.
The hearing is scheduled for Monday morning in federal court in Minneapolis. Minnesota’s Democratic Attorney General, Keith Ellison, said he planned to attend in person.
They are asking U.S. District Judge Kathleen Menendez to order federal law enforcement agencies to reduce the numbers of officers and agents in Minnesota to pre-surge levels, while allowing them to continue enforcing immigration laws within a long list of proposed limits.
Justice Department lawyers called the lawsuit “legally frivolous” and said “Minnesota wants a veto over enforcement of federal law.” They asked the judge to deny the request or at least suspend her order pending an expected appeal.
Ellison said in a news conference Sunday that he and the cities sued because of “the unprecedented nature of this increase. It’s a new abuse of the Constitution that we’re looking at now. No one can remember a time when we’ve seen something like this.”
It was not clear before the hearing when the judge might issue his ruling.
The case also has implications for other states that have been or could be targets of heightened federal immigration enforcement operations. Attorneys general from 19 states plus the District of Columbia, led by California, File an amicus curiae brief Support Minnesota.
“If left unchecked, the federal government will undoubtedly be emboldened to continue its unlawful conduct in Minnesota and repeat it elsewhere,” prosecutors wrote.
Menendez is the same judge who Ruling in a separate case on January 16 that federal officers in Minnesota cannot detain or fire tear gas at peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities, including people following and monitoring agents.
Court of Appeal Temporarily suspended This ruling was made three days before Saturday’s shooting. But the plaintiffs in that case, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, asked the appeals court late Saturday for a decision. Emergency order The stay was lifted in light of Preeti’s murder. Ministry of Justice He argued back on Sunday that the moratorium should remain in effect, calling the injunction unworkable and overly broad.
In another case, another federal judge, Eric Tostrud, ruled late Saturday Issue an order Prohibiting the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to Saturday’s shooting. Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty requested the order to try to preserve evidence collected by federal officials that state authorities have not yet been able to examine. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Monday afternoon in federal court in St. Paul.
“The fact that anyone would think that an agent of the federal government would consider doing such a thing would have been completely unthinkable just a few weeks ago,” Ellison told reporters. “But now, this is what we have to do.”