States Sue to Limit ICE Presence as President Trump Threatens to Invoke Insurrection Act
The state of Minnesota and the state of Illinois are suing the Trump Administration over the deployment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in their states saying it’s federal overreach and there should be curbs on federal officers.
Minnesota in particular has been the recent focus of the ICE surge, with thousands of officers in the state since December as part of Operation Metro Surge, which is focused on arresting illegal immigrants tied to a massive welfare fraud scheme.
The lawsuits, which were filed separately, claim the Trump Administration interfered with public safety in direct violation of their 10th Amendment right against federal overreach and state sovereignty, along with other violations. The suits ask federal judges to declare the deployment unconstitutional and to halt ICE operations in both states. It also asks for limits to be put on federal officers, including prohibiting the use of chemical irritants and demanding that agents wear visible identification and activate body-worn cameras.
The cities that are the center of ICE crackdowns against illegal migrants, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Chicago, joined the lawsuits.
“Operation Metro Surge is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities,” said the State of Minnesota in its lawsuit.
But the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says the surge of ICE officers is necessary.
“DHS law enforcement will not put politics over public safety. @ICEgov is federal law enforcement, and they belong everywhere that federal law applies. President Trump’s job is to protect the American people and enforce the law — no matter who your mayor, governor, or state attorney general is,” said DHS on X.
Shooting Sparks More Tension in Minneapolis
Meanwhile, federal and local officials are trading blame following an incident in which an ICE officer shot a man in the leg after a struggle outside a residence, an event that has prompted renewed protests in Minnesota.
According to DHS, the undocumented migrant from Venezuela attempted to evade arrest and physically assaulted an ICE officer. DHS said the officer fired a defensive response after two additional individuals emerged and began striking the officer with a shovel and a broomstick.
In response to the incident, demonstrators gathered in Minneapolis on Wednesday night criticizing ICE enforcement actions, recording officers on their smartphones, and calling for the agency to withdraw from the city.
President Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to send federal troops to Minnesota if the state does not “obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E.”
Federal Prosecutors Resign
This latest incident comes a week after an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Good. DHS said the officer fired in self-defense and there is currently no basis for a criminal civil-rights investigation.
Six federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigned this week over the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) push to investigate Good’s widow, as well as DOJ’s apparent reluctance to investigate the shooting.
Among those leaving is Joseph H. Thompson, second in command at the U.S. attorney’s office, and the attorney overseeing the sprawling welfare fraud investigation in Minnesota that has led to the conviction of 60 people, most of them of Somali descent.