MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, USA (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday ordered his border czar to travel to Minnesota to oversee immigration raids in the state, while noting that he is now on a similar wavelength with Governor Tim Walz after a second person was shot and killed by immigration agents in the city this month.
After a telephone conversation, Trump and the Democrat Walz offered remarks that contrasted with the criticisms they had exchanged for some time. The call occurred on the same day a federal judge heard arguments in a lawsuit aimed at curbing the immigration raids in the state.
“In fact, it seems we’re on a similar wavelength,” the president wrote on social media.
Walz said in a statement that the call was “productive” and that impartial investigations into the shootings were needed. Trump said his administration would pursue “any and all” criminals held in the state. The governor also asserted that the State Department of Corrections is complying with federal requests for individuals in its custody.
For now, it remains unclear whether the new tone from the two officials will bring about any change. Lawyers for the federal government and for the state and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul appeared Monday before U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, who is weighing requests to temporarily halt the immigration operations.
Menendez noted that the case is a priority, though she did not issue an immediate ruling.
The state and city lawyers argued that the on-the-ground situation is so grave that the court should order an end to the federal immigration raids.
“If this doesn’t stop here and now, I don’t think anyone seriously watching this issue can have much faith in how our republic will move forward,” said Brian Carter, the Minnesota deputy attorney general.
The judge questioned the government’s motives for carrying out the raids and expressed skepticism about a letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi sent recently to Walz, in which she asked the state to provide federal access to voter registration records, supply state Medicaid and food-assistance records, and roll back sanctuary policies.
“I mean, isn’t there a limit to what the executive branch can do under the pretext of enforcing immigration laws?” Menendez asked. She noted that the federal requests are the subject of litigation.
Brantley Mayers, a DOJ attorney, said the government’s objective is to enforce federal law. He added that legal action should not be used to undermine another legal action.
“I don’t see how the fact that there are other things we’re allowed to do, which the Constitution grants us, would somehow be a hurdle to carrying out another part of the same operation,” Mayers argued.
Menendez questioned where the line sat between upholding the Constitution and the executive’s power to enforce the law. She also asked whether she was being asked to choose between state and federal policies.
“That starts to feel like I have to decide which political approach is better,” she said.
While discussing the possibility of federal agents entering residences without a warrant, the judge expressed reluctance to decide issues that have not yet been raised in a lawsuit.
“I can’t be the global guardian of everything that happens here. Presumably that will go to litigation,” she told the state’s attorney.
Menendez made clear she had trouble making a decision given how unusual the case is and the lack of precedents.
“It’s because this is important that I’m doing everything I can to get it right,” she said.
Minnesota and the cities filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) earlier this month, five days after Renee Good was shot by an ICE agent. The Saturday shooting of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent added urgency to the case.
Border Czar to Minnesota
Meanwhile, Trump announced he would send border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota. The president’s announcement came after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino—who has become the face of the immigration raids—held weekend press conferences to discuss Pretti’s shooting. Trump posted on social media that Homan would report directly to him.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Homan would serve as the “primary point of contact in Minneapolis” during the ongoing federal immigration operations.
A government lawyer told a court on Monday that there were about 2,000 ICE agents in the state, as well as at least 1,000 Border Patrol personnel.
The suit seeks an order to scale back the presence of federal immigration agents in Minnesota to pre-raid levels and to limit the scope of the operations.
Other State Implications
The case has implications for other states that have been or could become targets of immigration raids. Attorneys general from 19 states plus the District of Columbia filed a brief in support of Minnesota.
“If it isn’t checked, there’s little doubt the federal government will feel emboldened to continue its unlawful conduct in Minnesota and replicate it elsewhere,” the attorneys general wrote.
Menendez previously ruled on January 16 that federal agents in Minnesota cannot stop or spray tear gas at peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities, including people who are simply following and watching the agents.
A federal appeals court stayed that ruling three days before Saturday’s shooting. But the plaintiffs in that case, represented by Minnesota’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, asked the appeals court on Saturday to issue an emergency order to lift the stay after Pretti’s death.
The Justice Department argued on Sunday in a response that the stay should remain in effect, noting that the court order was impractical and too broad.
In another case, U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud issued an order on Saturday prohibiting the federal government from “destroying or altering” evidence related to Saturday’s shooting. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty sought the order to preserve evidence gathered by federal authorities that state officials have not yet been able to inspect.
A hearing in that case is scheduled for Monday afternoon in a federal court in St. Paul.
Attack on hotel believed to house federal agents
Protesters attacked a Minneapolis hotel on Sunday where federal agents were believed to be staying, blocking a street near the University of Minnesota campus.
An independent photographer working for The Associated Press saw broken glass in the hotel lobby, as well as graffiti with obscenities and threats directed at ICE.
A Minneapolis police officer who was inside the hotel tried to assist a wounded federal agent. Additional personnel from local and state agencies were planned to intervene to “de-escalate the situation and make arrests,” the Minneapolis Police Department said in a Monday statement.
But as officers began arriving at the scene and arrested two people, federal agents arrived and “dispersed chemical munitions,” the police statement said. A DHS spokesperson said a further statement would be released later about the situation.
