Federal judge rejects Minnesota lawsuit to halt Trump administration's immigration rollout

A federal judge rejected Minnesota's effort to overturn the increased immigration resources and staffing sent by the Trump administration. Judge Katherine Menendez, nominated by President Joe Biden, argued that the plaintiffs failed to make a strong showing that the operation clearly violated the Constitution.

As part of Operation Metro Surge, the White House in December dispatched an estimated 3,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison then filed the lawsuit along with the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul prior to Alex Pretti's death.

According to the lawsuit, the deployment represented a violation of the 10th Amendment, which protects state sovereignty against unauthorized federal incursions. In addition, the plaintiffs cited an excessive use of force and an attempt to politically coerce the state over its immigration policies and other measures.

However, Judge Menendez rejected these arguments in her ruling, noting that the plaintiffs failed to justify that the Trump administration's actions exceeded the states' powers.

"Plaintiffs ask the Court to extend existing precedent to a new context where its application is less direct — namely, to an unprecedented deployment of armed federal immigration officers to aggressively enforce immigration statutes," the judge wrote in her 30-page ruling. "None of the cases on which they rely have even come close," she added.

Pam Bondi, attorney general for the Trump administration, celebrated the ruling on X. "Another HUGE Justice Department legal win in Minnesota just now: a Biden-appointed district judge denied Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s attempt to keep ICE out of Minnesota," she wrote.

"Neither sanctuary policies nor meritless litigation will stop the Trump Administration from enforcing federal law in Minnesota," she added.