Biden-appointed judge rejects effort to halt Trump admin’s immigration operation in Minnesota

A federal judge on Saturday rejected an effort by Minnesota officials to block the Trump administration’s deployment of federal immigration agents in the state.

US District Court Judge Katherine Menendez ruled that there was sufficient evidence that Operation Metro Surge “has had, and will likely continue to have, profound and even heartbreaking, consequences on the State of Minnesota, the Twin Cities, and Minnesotans.” The Biden-appointed judge also claimed that “There is evidence that ICE and CBP agents have engaged in racial profiling, excessive use of force, and other harmful actions.”

However, Menendez said the state’s argument that it was being unfairly targeted by the Trump administration was insufficient to justify blocking the operation outright. She added that she was “particularly reluctant to take a side in the debate about the purpose behind Operation Metro Surge.”

“There is no clear way for the Court to determine at what point Defendants’ alleged unlawful actions…becomes (sic) so problematic that they amount to unconstitutional coercion and an infringement on Minnesota’s state sovereignty,” Menendez wrote, referring to the roughly 3,000 federal officers deployed in the state. She also said there is “no precedent for a court to micromanage such decisions.”

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the state would continue to challenge federal immigration enforcement actions. In a statement, Ellison said that “this case is in its infancy and there is much legal road in front of us.”

“We know that those 3,000 immigration agents are here to intimidate Minnesota and bend the state to the federal government’s will,” he said. “That is unconstitutional under the Tenth Amendment and the principle of equal sovereignty. We’re not letting up in defending our state’s constitutional powers.”