MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. – Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, along with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, announced Monday a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Border Patrol, along with agents and leaders of the agencies.
A total of 11 counts are alleged in the court filing.
“The deployment of thousands of armed mass DHS agents to Minnesota has done our state serious harm,” Ellison said. “This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the twin cities and Minnesota and it must stop. DHS agents have sown chaos and terror across the metropolitan area and in cities across the state of Minnesota.”
Brian Carter, Special Counsel to the Attorney General, said a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) will be filed. They’ll also ask the court to hear the motion on Tuesday morning.
“There’s another similar motion in a separate but related lawsuit that’s scheduled for that time,” he said. “We’re going to try and piggyback on that, and we’re going to be asking for immediate relief.”
Minneapolis mayor speaks out
Minneapolis governor Jacob Frey said the cities are not seeing ‘normal immigration enforcement.’
“We are not asking ICE not to do ICE things,” he said. “We are asking this federal government to stop the unconstitutional conduct that is invading our streets each and every day.”
Frey alleges as many as 50 agents arresting one person.
“The scale is wildly disproportionate and has nothing to do with keeping people safe,” he said.
He said people are ‘being indiscriminately taken off’ the city’s streets.
Frey said the state – and cities – are being targeted for political reasons.
“Florida and Texas and Utah are Republican states,” he said. “The reason that Minnesota and Minneapolis are being targeted is because you’ve got a Democratic governor, a Democratic attorney general, and you got Democratic mayors.”
St. Paul’s mayor speaks
Kaohly Her was inaugurated as St. Paul’s mayor on December 2.
She said Monday she’s ‘proud to stand with Mayor Frey and Attorney General Ellison to fight for our residents.’
“This federal occupation of our cities needs to end immediately,” Her said. “Federal law enforcement is racially profiling our residents, creating mass chaos, and undermining the relationship between local government and our communities. We will not stand idly by and watch this happen. With this collective action, we are taking a firm stance to tell federal law enforcement that this cannot happen in our country.”
She said federal law enforcement ‘are endangering our community’s safety, straining our resources, and sowing distrust.’
“While we know we can’t control federal agents, we will pull every lever we have to fight back in every way that we can.,” Her said. “They’ve come into St. Paul and needlessly invaded our neighborhoods and homes. They’re targeting us based on what we look and sound like.”
She said residents are scared.
“As local officials, we have a responsibility to act,” Her said.
Republican legislative leaders react
Republican leaders in both the Minnesota House and Senate are reacting to the lawsuit.
“Instead of working with the federal government to target and arrest criminal illegal immigrants, they are wasting state resources on a lawsuit that seeks to override the federal government’s authority to enforce immigration law,” House Speaker Lisa Demuth and GOP Floor Leader Harry Niska said in a statement. “Minnesotans deserve leaders that allow the removal of violent criminals – not ones that demand they remain in our communities.”
Flag Family News has reached out to Senate Republican leadership for comment.
