DOJ Says Minnesota Bid to Curb ICE Operations Would Be 'Unprecedented' Judicial Overreach

The Trump administration’s Justice Department has asked a federal judge to reject Minnesota’s request for an injunction limiting Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the state, arguing the move would amount to an 'unprecedented act of judicial overreach' and give the state an unconstitutional veto over federal law enforcement. In a Monday filing responding to Minnesota’s lawsuit, DOJ lawyers called the state’s theory 'legally frivolous' and an 'absurdity,' insisting the Tenth Amendment does not let states eject federal officers simply because they dislike current enforcement. Minnesota is seeking to block a massive ICE surge that has brought more than 2,000 federal immigration officers into the Twin Cities, which state officials say has terrorized communities, disrupted local policing and followed the fatal Jan. 13 shooting of 37‑year‑old Renee Good by an ICE agent in south Minneapolis. DOJ counters that ICE and other DHS personnel in and around Minneapolis are facing rising 'threats, violence, aggression, attacks, vehicle block‑ins, and obstruction,' framing the surge as both lawful and necessary in the face of what DHS says is a 1,300% increase in assaults on agents. The state has until Thursday to respond, setting up a fast‑moving test of how far federal courts are willing to go in refereeing clashes between a state government and an administration that is using an aggressive immigration crackdown as a centerpiece of its domestic agenda.