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A federal judge will hear arguments Monday on whether she should at least temporarily halt her crackdown on immigrants. minnesota This led to government officials shooting and killing two people.
Minnesota and its cities minneapolis and sao paulo Renee Good sued the Department of Homeland Security five days after she was shot and killed earlier this month. migrant and customs officials. The shooting of Border Patrol Agent Alex Pretti on Saturday further heightened the urgency of the case.
Since the original application was submitted, the state and cities have significantly increased the initial requirements. They are trying to restore conditions that existed before the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge on Dec. 1.
A hearing is scheduled for Monday morning in Minneapolis federal court. Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he planned to attend in person.
They asked U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez to order federal law enforcement agencies to reduce the number of officers and agents in Minnesota to pre-surge levels while allowing them to continue enforcing immigration laws within a long list of proposed restrictions.
Justice Department lawyers called the lawsuit “legally frivolous” and said “Minnesota wants to have veto power over federal enforcement.” They asked the judge to deny the request or at least put her order on hold pending an expected appeal.
Ellison said at a news conference Sunday that he and the cities filed the lawsuit because “the nature of this surge is unprecedented. What we’re looking at now is a novel abuse of the Constitution. No one can remember when we’ve seen anything like this.”
Ahead of the hearing, it was unclear when the judge would rule.
The case also has implications for other states that have been, or may be, targets of intensive federal immigration enforcement operations. Attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia, led by California, filed an amicus brief supporting Minnesota.
“If left unchecked, the federal government will undoubtedly be emboldened to continue its unlawful conduct in Minnesota and repeat its mistakes elsewhere,” the attorney general wrote.
Menendez is the same judge who ruled in a separate case on Jan. 16 that federal officers in Minnesota cannot detain peaceful protesters or use tear gas if they do not impede authorities, including by following and observing agents.
An appeals court temporarily stayed that ruling three days before Saturday’s shooting. But the plaintiffs in the case, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, asked the appeals court late Saturday for an emergency order lifting the stay in light of Pretty’s killing. The Justice Department argued in a response filed Sunday that the suspension should remain in place, calling it unworkable and overbroad.
In a separate case, another federal judge, Eric Tostrud, issued an order late Saturday blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence related to Saturday’s shooting.” Ellison and Hennepin County Prosecutor Mary Moriarty requested the order in an attempt to preserve evidence collected by federal officials that has not yet been examined by state authorities. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Monday afternoon in federal court in St. Paul.
“Just a few weeks ago, it would have been completely unforeseen that anyone would think federal agents might consider doing something like this,” Ellison told reporters. “But now, this is what we have to do.”