{"id":431363,"date":"2026-01-26T19:56:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T19:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/431363\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T19:56:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T19:56:08","slug":"minneapolis-court-considers-whether-trumps-deployment-of-ice-agents-violates-constitution-ice-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/431363\/","title":{"rendered":"Minneapolis court considers whether Trump\u2019s deployment of ICE agents violates constitution | ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal court in Minneapolis<\/a> is hearing arguments on Monday on whether the Trump administration\u2019s<\/a> deployment of 3,000 immigration agents to Minnesota has crossed the line from law enforcement into unconstitutional occupation.<\/p>\n

The extraordinary legal question centers on the 10th amendment, which reserves to the states all powers not explicitly granted to the federal government in the constitution. Lawyers for Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St Paul claim in their suit<\/a> that Operation Metro Surge has become so intrusive and dangerous that it amounts to an illegal occupation of the state.<\/p>\n

They are asking Kate Menendez, a Biden-appointed US district judge, to immediately halt the operation, which they say has terrified residents, put public safety at risk, and made it nearly impossible for local officials to do their jobs, from policing neighborhoods to keeping schools running normally.<\/p>\n

The case, which was filed after the fatal shooting of Renee Good<\/a>, has taken on new urgency following Saturday\u2019s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti<\/a>, a Minneapolis nurse and US citizen who was killed by federal agents while apparently filming an immigration operation. Videos verified by the Guardian<\/a> contradict portions of the department of homeland security\u2019s account of the incident.<\/p>\n

Pretti\u2019s death marks the third shooting involving federal agents this month.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s hearing began with state lawyer Lindsey Middlecamp demanding an immediate end to what she called an \u201cunlawful and unchecked invasion\u201d by federal agents, according to reporters in the court room<\/a>. She cited the Pretti killing and described Operation Metro Surge as violent by design, relying on shows of force and aggressive racial profiling. She also alleged retaliation against critics, saying businesses who spoke out have faced audits and some protesters have had their global entry status revoked.<\/p>\n

Much of the hearing, according to reporters, has focused on a letter from attorney general Pam Bondi<\/a>, which the state characterizes as an extortion attempt that violates the 10th amendment. Minnesota\u2019s lawyers argue the Trump administration is using Operation Metro Surge to force policy changes rather than letting courts resolve disputes. \u201cThey are not letting the courts work this stuff out,\u201d the state said. \u201cWhat they\u2019re trying to get in court … they\u2019re trying to get that same thing by putting 3,000 heavily armed agents on the streets of Minnesota.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bondi letter explicitly linked ending the surge to three demands: access to voter registration records, welfare program data, and the repeal of sanctuary policies, none of which the state argues have anything to do with immigration enforcement. Bondi\u2019s first demand to halt the operation asked the state to hand over Snap data, which Minnesota\u2019s lawyers say makes clear the federal government is using the presence of armed agents to coerce compliance on unrelated matters.<\/p>\n

Menendez expressed difficulty drawing the line between legitimate federal pressure and illegal coercion. \u201cWhat helps me decide when this very rarely used doctrine gives me the power to kick ICE out of the state?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s lawsuit argues the surge is motivated by a \u201cdesire to punish political opponents and score partisan points\u201d rather than legitimate enforcement needs. It does not seek an end to all immigration enforcement in Minnesota, but asks for a return to pre-surge staffing levels and restrictions on how remaining agents operate.<\/p>\n

Trump administration lawyers have dismissed the claims as lacking \u201ca shred of legal support\u201d. They describe the operation as lawful enforcement of immigration laws that has resulted in arrests of people convicted of serious crimes. \u201cPresident Trump campaigned and won election on a promise to enforce immigration laws enacted by Congress,\u201d government lawyers wrote. \u201cFor the last year, DHS has delivered on that promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legally speaking, it\u2019s largely uncharted territory. Menendez has noted there is limited precedent for a state challenging federal law enforcement on 10th amendment grounds, though Illinois has filed a similar lawsuit<\/a> seeking to block immigration enforcement without express congressional authorization.<\/p>\n

In a letter filed hours after Saturday\u2019s shooting, state and city lawyers wrote that \u201cthe situation is grave\u201d and urged the judge to act.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis cannot continue. We need the court to act to stop this surge before yet another resident dies because of Operation Metro Surge.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A federal court in Minneapolis is hearing arguments on Monday on whether the Trump administration\u2019s deployment of 3,000…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-431363","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-united-states-of-america","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}