Justice Department asks judge to allow ICE surge in Minnesota to continue

The Justice Department asked a federal judge on Monday to allow a surge of immigration agents in Minnesota to continue despite a lawsuit filed by the state and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Lawyers for Minnesota and the two cities say the deployment of roughly 3,000 federal agents violates the state’s sovereignty under the 10th Amendment and “appear[s] designed to provoke community outrage, sow fear and inflict emotional distress,” while interfering with local officials’ ability to protect residents, the suit says.

The Trump administration called the states’ position an “absurdity” that “would render the supremacy of federal law an afterthought to local preferences,” and warned that an injunction blocking the operation “would constitute an unprecedented act of judicial overreach.” The operation, named Operation Metro Surge by the administration, has led to more than 3,000 arrests, repeated clashes with protesters and two shootings, and officials have described the effort as aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration and rooting out fraud in state social service programs.

No rulings were made at a hearing last week before Judge Kate M. Menendez, who said the administration needed time to reply and indicated another hearing was possible, perhaps as soon as this Friday though one has not been scheduled.

Key Topics

Politics, Operation Metro Surge, Ice, Minnesota, Minneapolis, Kate Menendez