MINNEAPOLIS – Attorneys for the Justice Department and Minnesota squared off in federal court on Monday over the continued presence of immigration agents as part of Operation Metro Surge.
The high-stakes hearing in Minneapolis centered on Minnesota’s bid to halt the surge of federal immigration agents to the state – described by the Trump administration as the largest immigration enforcement deployment ever carried out. It comes as tensions continue to rise following the second killing of a U.S. citizen on a Minneapolis street by federal agents in less than three weeks.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her sued the Trump administration on Jan. 12 over the deployment, arguing the U.S. government violated the First Amendment by targeting Minnesota over speech by the state’s Democratic leaders and infringed on the state’s sovereignty…