Dive Brief:
- State and city officials in Illinois and Minnesota filed separate lawsuits Monday alleging federal immigration agents’ actions in their states have violated the Constitution, undermined public safety efforts and interfered with the cities’ and states’ abilities to protect and care for residents.
-
Border Patrol agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents “have acted as occupiers rather than officers of the law,” stated Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. “I filed this lawsuit to stand up for the safety of the people of Illinois and the sovereignty of our state.”
-
Calling the lawsuits “baseless,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement that President Donald Trump’s job “is to protect the American people and enforce the law — no matter who your mayor, governor, or state attorney general is. That’s what the Trump administration is doing; we have the Constitution on our side on this, and we look forward to proving that in court.”
Dive Insight:
The Trump administration deployed hundreds of federal immigration enforcement agents to Chicago in what it called Operation Midway Blitz in September 2025. In December 2025, the administration launched “an unprecedented deployment” of “thousands of armed and masked DHS agents” into Minneapolis and St. Paul, according to Minnesota’s lawsuit.
On Jan. 7, an ICE agent shot and killed Minneapolis resident Nicole Renee Good.
“As a result of this surge, municipalities have been forced to divert local law enforcement resources away from their normal public safety duties, emergency responder resources have been strained, schools have been forced into lockdowns and closures, businesses have been forced to close, and the rights of Minnesotans have been violated time and time again,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office stated.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said in a press release that federal immigration operations “have forced the City to divert resources to address problems created by federal immigration authorities, damaged the City’s ability to protect residents who fear immigration enforcement, undermined trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement, and reduced use of vital City services.”
“Federal law enforcement’s occupation of our city is putting us all at risk,” stated St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her. “Our residents are scared, and as local officials, we have a responsibility to act.”
Both lawsuits allege the surges of federal immigration agents violate the 10th Amendment, which reserves all powers not delegated to the federal government to states, and the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs federal agency rulemaking.
The Illinois lawsuit asks the court to prohibit the administration from conducting civil immigration enforcement in Illinois and vacate the practices of roving patrol, biometric scanning, warrantless arrests, using tear gas, arbitrary enforcement, concealing license plates and trespassing on private property.
The Minnesota lawsuit asks the court to declare the federal immigration surge in Minnesota unconstitutional and unlawful and prohibit agents from conducting operations in the state “over the objection of the Governor of Minnesota and the Mayors of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.”
McLaughlin said it 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.”
