Judge Weighs Whether to Block ICE Surge in Minnesota
Tyler O'Neil /
U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez pressed attorneys for Minnesota and the Justice Department on Monday about the state’s claims that the federal government violated the 10th Amendment by surging Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to Minneapolis.
Lindsey Middlecamp, a special counsel at the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, reportedly described ICE’s deployment as an “unlawful occupation” at the outset of the hearing.
She argued that the the administration of President Donald Trump is using the ICE deployment to pressure the state on policy.
“They are not letting the courts work this stuff out,” Middlecamp said, according to Politico’s Kyle Cheney. “What they’re trying to get in court … they’re trying to get that same thing by putting 3,000 heavily armed agents on the streets of Minnesota.”
As evidence of alleged coercion, the state’s attorneys presented a Jan. 24 letter from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, urging Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, to consider three major policy changes.
Bondi urged him to share Minnesota’s records on Medicaid and Food and Nutrition Service programs with the federal government; to repeal “sanctuary” policies restricting state and local law enforcement from assisting federal officers; and to allow the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to access voter rolls to confirm Minnesota’s voter registration practices comply with federal laws.
Then, on Saturday, following the death of Alex Pretti, 37, at the hands of Border Patrol agents, Minnesota Solicitor General Liz Kramer sent Menendez a letter requesting a temporary restraining order to grant “immediate relief without delay” from the surge in immigration enforcement officers to the state.
“We need the Court to act to stop this Surge before yet another resident dies because of Operation Metro Surge,” the letter states.
The Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Metro Surge in December, deploying federal agents to arrest and deport illegal alien criminals. The agency initially targeted the Twin Cities area, but since expanded the operation to the rest of the state.
Menendez, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, repeatedly questioned whether she has the right to block the surge. Last year, the Supreme Court struck down the practice of district courts applying universal injunctions against the federal government, finding it extended beyond federal courts’ Article III powers.
The judge said she is weighing how to draw a line between legitimate federal immigration enforcement efforts and illegal federal coercion of a state under the Supreme Court’s “anti-commandeering” doctrine.
“What helps me decide when this very rarely used doctrine gives me the power to kick ICE out of the state?” she asked.
“It is personal animosity. It is retribution,” Brian Carter, an attorney in Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office, argued. He cited a Truth Social post from Trump saying, “THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!”
“How can that not violate the 10th Amendment?” Carter asked.
The judge asked Brantley Mayers, a Justice Department lawyer, about Bondi’s letter: “Is the executive trying to achieve a goal through force that it can’t achieve through the courts?”
“No, your honor, the goal is to enforce federal laws,” Mayers said.
Menendez asked Mayers why the Department of Homeland Security needs so many officers, Reuters reported. Mayers cited complications surrounding how immigration officers stage for enforcement operations, particularly gathering in parking lots. Twin Cities officials have tried to prevent DHS from using city-owned parking lots and garages in immigration enforcement operations.
The judge adjourned the hearing and said that a ruling in the case may take time.
The Lawsuit
Earlier this month, Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other DHS officials over the surge.
Minnesota argued that the surge violated the law in at least 10 different ways. The complaint claims the surge violated the 10th Amendment, which reserves certain rights to the states; the Constitution’s sovereignty clause, which extends equal sovereignty to the states; the Administrative Procedure Act; and others.
Federal officials “engaged in unlawful conduct that harms Plaintiffs’ residents, infringes on Plaintiffs’ police powers, and violates state sovereignty,” the complaint states. DHS’ actions “are designed to coerce Plaintiffs into adopting and enforcing President Trump’s policy priorities.”
“Defendants’ actions force such an impermissible ‘choice’: use state and local law enforcement resources to carry out the federal government’s civil immigration priorities or accept occupation by federal troops,” the complaint states.
Minnesota is seeking a court order declaring that Noem’s ICE surge is unconstitutional, a preliminary and permanent injunction to block the surge, and an injunction preventing law enforcement from using choke holds and concealing their identities, among other things.
Yet federal authorities enjoy wide latitude to enforce immigration law.
Trump’s Latest Move
Trump announced Monday that Walz called him with a request to “work together.”
“It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” the president wrote on Truth Social. He said he directed Tom Homan, the border czar, to call Walz.
The president told the governor, “What we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession. The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future.”