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Minnesota sues Trump admin over ICE surge
The State of Minnesota has filed a motion for a temporary restraining order asking a judge to end the ICE surge in Minnesota by the Trump administration.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The State of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration to end the recent ICE surge in the Twin Cities.
Minnesota sues Trump admin
What we know:
Attorney General Keith Ellison, acting on behalf of the state, filed the lawsuit on Monday along with both Twin Cities. The lawsuit names Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem, ICE Director Todd Lyons, and Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino among other federal officials.
The backstory:
Ellison accuses the Trump administration of causing "serious harm" with the surge, citing incidents like the shooting of Renee Good last week.
Trump admin responds
The other side:
In a statement to FOX 9, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said:
"Keith Ellison made it abundantly clear today he is prioritizing politics over public safety. It really is astounding that the Left can miraculously rediscover the Tenth Amendment when they don’t want federal law enforcement officers to enforce federal law — which is a clear federal responsibility under Article I, Article II and the Supremacy Clause — and then go right back to federalizing every state responsibility possible when they get back in power. Spare us.
"Sanctuary politicians like Ellison are the EXACT reason that DHS surged to Minnesota in the first place. If he, Tim Walz, or Jacob Frey had just done their sworn duty to protect the people of Minnesota they are supposed to serve to root out fraud and get criminals off the street — if they had worked with us to do it — we wouldn’t be having this conversation in the first place.
"President Trump’s job is to protect the American people and enforce the law — no matter who your mayor, governor, or state attorney general is. That’s what the Trump administration is doing; we have the Constitution on our side on this, and we look forward to proving that in court."
In context:
The statement also included a list of immigrants arrested in Minnesota, whom McLaughlin said Minnesota leaders are "protecting." The list includes 13 "worst of the worst" detainees who are accused of offenses ranging from murder to sexual abuse against children.
However, it's worth noting that reviews have found that many of the individuals arrested by ICE have no convictions on their records. The Cato Institute, a libertarian thinktank, found that only about five percent have violent convictions.
ICE surge in Minnesota
Dig deeper:
The lawsuit argues that the recent surge of federal law enforcement officers that has brought at least 2,100 ICE officers and Homeland Security investigators into the state is "unconstitutional and unlawful."
They are asking a judge to end the surge and to block the Trump administration from moving forward any similar actions in Minnesota in the future.
"We allege that the obvious targeting of Minnesota for our diversity, for our democracy and our differences of opinion with the federal government is a violation of the Constitution and of federal law," said Ellison. "We allege that the surge's reckless impact on our schools, on our local law enforcement, is a violation of the 10th Amendment and the sovereign laws and powers of the Constitution grants to states. We allege that DHS forces use of excessive and lethal force, their warrantless racist arrests, their targeting of our courts."