“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,” Ellison’s office said.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming that the “unprecedented” deployment of federal agents to Minneapolis is “unconstitutional and unlawful.”
In a press release, Ellison’s office said that thousands of federal agents have been sent to the Twin Cities as part of “Operation Metro Surge.” Agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, have since conducted “militarized raids,” which Ellison claims have “resulted in tangible harm to … Minnesota and its people, as well as the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.”
“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,” Ellison’s office said.
The attorney general claims that the Trump administration’s enforcement actions constitute violations of the First and Tenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit asks that a court order the defendant agencies to refrain from engaging in a variety of unlawful conduct, including “using force against individuals peacefully” protesting, “pointing firearms at individuals who pose no threat to DHS agents,” and “carrying out enforcement actions at sensitive locations like schools, churches, [and] hospitals.”
“The unlawful deployment of thousands of armed, masked, and poorly trained federal agents is hurting Minnesota,” Ellison said in a statement. “People are being racially profiled, harassed, terrorized, and assaulted. Schools have gone into lockdown. Businesses have been forced to close. Minnesota police are spending countless hours dealing with the chaos ICE is causing. This federal invasion of the Twin Cities has to stop, so today I am suing DHS to bring it to an end.”
Ellison’s lawsuit notes that deployment has forced the city to incur significant losses.
“On January 7, 2026, the Minneapolis Police Department began tracking overtime related to the increased public safety needs caused by DHS agents’ reckless and aggressive immigration enforcement tactics and public reactions to the same,” the attorney general’s office said. “By January 9, 2026, Minneapolis Police officers had already worked more than 3,000 hours of overtime, and the estimated cost of overtime to taxpayers for the period between January 8 and January 11 is more than $2 million.”
The lawsuit further claims that Minnesota, Minneapolis, and St. Paul have been targeted due to their perceived political affiliation.
Sources
Minnesota officials sue to block Trump’s immigration crackdown as enforcement intensifies
Join the conversation!