Minnesota and Twin Cities officials filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday to halt the surge of federal immigration agents in the state.
The lawsuit argues the recent surge of agents is unconstitutional, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents are using “illegal” tactics.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, on behalf of the state and alongside the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, filed the federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and related agencies and officials.
Ellison also requested a temporary restraining order, citing the immediate harm the state and cities are facing, and asked a judge to prevent Operation Metro Surge from moving forward.
DHS has sent another 2,100 ICE officers and Homeland Security investigators into the state in recent weeks following allegations of widespread welfare fraud.
“We allege that the obvious targeting of Minnesota for our diversity, for our democracy, and our differences of opinion with the federal government is a violation of the Constitution and of federal law,” Ellison said during a news conference.
DHS accused Minnesota leaders of disregarding public safety, ignoring federal immigration law, and obstructing law enforcement operations.
The department also called on Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to honor ICE arrest detainers of more than 1,360 criminal illegal aliens in the state’s custody.
“Sanctuary politicians like Ellison are the EXACT reason that DHS surged to Minnesota in the first place,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin fired back on X with a list of recent criminal illegal aliens arrested in Minnesota. “If he, Tim Walz, or Jacob Frey had just done their sworn duty to protect the people of Minnesota they are supposed to serve to root out fraud and get criminals off the street — if they had worked with us to do it — we wouldn’t be having this conversation in the first place.”
Keith Ellison made it abundantly clear today he is prioritizing politics over public safety. It really is astounding that the Left can miraculously rediscover the Tenth Amendment when they don’t want federal law enforcement officers to enforce federal law — which is a clear… pic.twitter.com/muk0dlvN4G
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) January 12, 2026
The State of Illinois and Chicago filed a similar lawsuit after amplifying anti-ICE rhetoric and battling the Trump immigration over immigration enforcement for months.
Both sanctuary states and cities refuse to honor ICE detainers, release criminals into the community, and encourage residents to actively protest and resist ICE — leading to clashes with law enforcement and chaos on the streets.
As a result, federal agents have to go out into the community to find and apprehend them without the help of local law enforcement, McLaughlin noted in another post. And local police are told to stand down and not respond to calls for backup when federal agents are under attack by protestors — another reason a team of agents respond to calls in the field.
Important question: WHY are DHS law enforcement surging to Minneapolis and other sanctuary cities?
It’s because Minnesota law enforcement won’t let us in their jails—Walz has released more than 470 criminal illegal aliens from Minnesota’s jails BACK onto the streets. That… pic.twitter.com/YxvwQ68WJF
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) January 13, 2026
“Gov. Tim Walz has refused to cooperate with ICE and released nearly 470 criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets of Minnesota to terrorize Americans. It is common sense,” DHS shared on social media with more mugshots of the “worst of the worst” arrested. “Criminal illegal aliens should not be released back onto our streets. We are calling on Governor Walz to cooperate with ICE and honor the arrest detainers for the more than 1,360 criminal illegal aliens in his custody.”
.@GovTimWalz has refused to cooperate with ICE and released nearly 470 criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets of Minnesota to terrorize Americans.
It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released back onto our streets.
We are calling on Governor Walz to…
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 13, 2026
McLaughlin said Minnesota leaders are protecting illegal immigrants convicted of rape, child sexual assault, kidnapping, homicide and other violent crimes, some with final orders of removal dating back decades.
DHS continues to update the list, which Fox News’ Bill Melugin, who covered the border during Biden’s open border crisis, also shared on social media over the weekend, adding:
“ICE has provided @FoxNews a list of the most egregious criminal aliens they’ve arrested during their surge in the sanctuary state of Minnesota, & it’s the most disturbing list I’ve ever seen, including numerous convicted child rapists/sodomizers & ten convicted killers, most with deportation orders going back many years. Several from Laos, Somalia, and Sudan.”
BREAKING: ICE has provided @FoxNews a list of the most egregious criminal aliens they've arrested during their surge in the sanctuary state of Minnesota, & it's the most disturbing list I've ever seen, including numerous convicted child rapists/sodomizers & ten convicted killers,… pic.twitter.com/xukxfLd4gZ
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 10, 2026
But to hear Minnesota’s leftist leaders spin it, thousands of armed and masked DHS agents “have stormed the Twin Cities to conduct militarized raids and carry out dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional stops and arrests, all under the guise of lawful immigration enforcement,” according to a news release announcing the lawsuit.
Ellison said the immigration operation has done “serious harm” to the state, calling for what he described as a “federal invasion” of the Twin Cities and Minnesota to stop.
The State and the cities claim the surge amounts to a violation of the First and Tenth Amendments of the Constitution, as well as the Constitution’s guarantee of equal sovereignty between state and federal governments.
“DHS agents have essentially commandeered police resources in Minnesota by forcing state and local law-enforcement agents to clean up the chaos that DHS agents have caused,” the lawsuit alleges.
Ellison also alleges the surge violates the Administrative Procedure Act due to “the use of excessive force against the people of Minnesota, the warrantless arrests of individuals without an assessment of immigration status, and the targeting of individuals in sensitive locations.” The APA prohibits against federal agency actions that are “arbitrary and capricious.”
Minnesota officials further claim that the surge of federal officers is politically motivated. The Trump administration “has been motivated by a desire to retaliate against perceived political enemies rather than good faith immigration enforcement, public safety, or law enforcement concerns,” the press release states.
“Keith Ellison made it abundantly clear today he is prioritizing politics over public safety,” McLaughlin shared on X. “It really is astounding that the Left can miraculously rediscover the Tenth Amendment when they don’t want federal law enforcement officers to enforce federal law — which is a clear federal responsibility under Article I, Article II and the Supremacy Clause — and then go right back to federalizing every state responsibility possible when they get back in power. Spare us.”
Meanwhile, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has continued with his reckless rhetoric following an ICE-officer involved shooting last week. He called for ICE agents to “get the f*ck out of Minneapolis.”
Frey has lied about facts surrounding the shooting that involved an activist who was actively impeding ICE operations, blocking traffic and harassing agents. During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Frey said “you had a person who was definitively trying to just get out of there. They were trying to leave the scene.”
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons on Monday downplayed Minnesota’s lawsuit to block ICE’s efforts in the state, dismissing its allegations as “just very sad.”
He refuted claims that ICE enforcement in the city is “overreach.” Lyons said allegations that ICE officers were racially-profiling people based on their skin color or if they had an accent were “100 percent false.”
“You know, what we’re doing is we’re doing our lawful law enforcement mission that Congress has on the books,” Lyons said per The Hill. “Obviously now it’s pending litigation. I’m not going to go too much in it, but there were a lot of allegations there. There’s a lot to unpack.”
Frey described it as “invasion” of ICE agents in the state and said the scale is “wildly disproportionate” and has nothing to do with keeping people safe. Meanwhile, his city’s sanctuary policies allow agitators and protestors to surround federal officers in neighborhoods without any backup.
“What we are seeing right now is not normal immigration enforcement,” Frey said during a press conference. “We are not asking ICE not to do ICE things. We are asking this federal government to stop the unconstitutional conduct that is invading our streets each and every day.”
