Minnesota sues Trump administration over ICE tactics after fatal shooting

MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL - Minnesota officials are suing over the “unprecedented surge” of US immigration authorities in the state, taking the Trump administration to court days after a federal agent shot and killed a Minneapolis woman
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In a lawsuit filed on Jan 12, the state accused the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Secretary Kristi Noem of deploying thousands of officers in Minneapolis and St Paul out of a “desire to punish political opponents and score partisan points”.

The state is arguing that the deployment unconstitutionally violates its sovereignty and is retaliation against its Democratic-elected leadership.

Minnesota officials allege the administration’s policies – such as having officers wear masks – violate state laws and that agents are illegally using excessive force and making warrantless arrests of people they suspect are not authorised to be in the US.

“Thousands of armed and masked DHS agents have stormed the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St Paul) to conduct militarised raids and carry out dangerous, illegal and unconstitutional stops and arrests in sensitive public places, including schools and hospitals – all under the guise of lawful immigration enforcement,” state officials wrote in the complaint.

Protests have erupted
across the country after Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on Jan 7 as she was driving her car.

Minnesota officials have denounced the shooting as unjustified, pointing to video footage of the confrontation, while the administration has defended the officer.

“President (Donald) Trump’s job is to protect the American people and enforce the law – no matter who your mayor, governor or state attorney-general is,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “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.”

Ms Noem signalled on Jan 11 that hundreds more federal agents were being deployed to Minnesota “to allow our ICE and our Border Patrol individuals who are working in Minneapolis to do so safely”.

She renewed warnings by senior administration officials that people who try to hamper federal law enforcement risk arrest and criminal prosecution.

The Trump administration is facing allegations similar to the Jan 12 suit by civilian protesters, who have a court hearing on Jan 13.

Officials in Illinois and Chicago filed their own suit on Jan 12, saying the “menacing, violent and unlawful incursion” of immigration agents into the area is an illegal attempt to get them to comply with President Trump’s ideological goals.

Separately, a group of Democratic lawmakers are challenging the Trump administration over a policy barring them from visiting immigration detention facilities without advanced notice.

They asked a federal judge in Washington on Jan 12 to schedule an emergency hearing, saying that three members of Congress were denied access to an ICE facility near Minneapolis over the weekend.

“This is a critical moment for oversight, and members of Congress must be able to conduct oversight at ICE detention facilities, without notice, to obtain urgent and essential information for ongoing funding negotiations,” they wrote. BLOOMBERG