Minnesota, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, aiming to halt a significant federal immigration enforcement operation. This initiative, which the lawsuit claims has inundated the Twin Cities with armed agents, has allegedly incited fear and unrest while disrupting state and local governance, according to court documents submitted on Monday.
The legal action targets several high-ranking officials within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including Secretary Kristi Noem, as well as leaders from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Among those named are Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, alongside the federal agencies themselves.
“Today, we are filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to put an end to the unlawful and unprecedented influx of federal law enforcement agents in Minnesota,” announced Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison at a press briefing on Monday. He argued that Minnesota is being unjustly targeted due to its diversity, democratic values, and differing views with the federal government, contending that such actions breach both the Constitution and federal laws.
Ellison highlighted the detrimental impact of deploying thousands of armed and masked DHS agents in Minnesota, describing it as a “federal invasion” that needs to be halted immediately for the well-being of the state.
The lawsuit asserts that federal immigration officers have conducted militarized raids throughout the Twin Cities, including at sensitive locations like schools and hospitals. It accuses these agents of racial profiling, carrying out arrests without warrants, using excessive force, and overburdening local law enforcement. The plaintiffs argue that these actions are politically motivated, serving as retaliation rather than genuine immigration enforcement efforts.
The plaintiffs accuse federal immigration agents of carrying out militarized raids across the Twin Cities, including stops at schools and hospitals, engaging in racial profiling, warrantless arrests and excessive force, and overwhelming local law enforcement, while claiming the operation was politically motivated retaliation rather than legitimate immigration enforcement.
“DHS agents have sown chaos and terror across the metropolitan area,” Ellison said. “Schools have gone [into] lockdown. Entire districts have had to cancel school for tens of thousands of students to ensure safety and offer online education.”
“Local businesses are struggling,” he added. “Revenues are down, and some retail stores, daycares and restaurants have actually closed because people are afraid to go out.”
The lawsuit comes nearly a week after an ICE agent shot and killed a 37-year-old Minneapolis woman during a federal enforcement operation in south Minneapolis. Federal officials have said agents were attempting to make arrests when the woman tried to use her vehicle as a weapon against officers, prompting an ICE agent to fire in self-defense.
Renee Nicole Good, moments before she was shot and killed by a federal agent in Minneapolis. (Obtained by Fox News)
“On January 7, 2026, a DHS agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, leaving her children without a mother and her 6-year-old son without either parent,” Ellison said. “This has to stop… it never should have started.”
Ellison said the scope and scale of the federal operation has strained public safety resources and disrupted daily life across the Twin Cities.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the enforcement surge goes far beyond traditional immigration operations and has made communities less safe.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey speaks to the media at City Hall on Jan. 9. (Aaron Lavinsky/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)
“What we are seeing right now is not normal immigration enforcement,” Frey said. “The scale is wildly disproportionate, and it has nothing to do with keeping people safe.”
The Trump administration pushed back sharply against the lawsuit, with DHS accusing Minnesota leaders of undermining public safety and obstructing federal law enforcement.
“Keith Ellison made it abundantly clear today he is prioritizing politics over public safety,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “It really 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 – and then go right back to federalizing every state responsibility possible when they get back in power. Spare us.”
Federal agents shoot pepper balls at protesters outside during an anti-ICE demonstration in Minneapolis on Jan. 11, 2026. (Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Sanctuary politicians like Ellison are the exact reason that DHS surged to Minnesota in the first place,” McLaughlin continued. “If he, Tim Walz, or Jacob Frey had just done their sworn duty to protect the people of Minnesota they are supposed to serve to root out fraud and get criminals off the street – if they had worked with us to do it – we wouldn’t be having this conversation in the first place.”
McLaughlin cited multiple examples of criminal illegal aliens she said Minnesota leaders are protecting, including individuals convicted of rape, child sexual assault, kidnapping, homicide and other violent crimes, some with final orders of removal dating back decades.
Among them, she highlighted a man from Laos who she said was convicted of strongarm sodomy of a boy, strongarm sodomy of a girl, aggravated sex offenses, multiple counts of larceny and fraud, burglary, drug possession and obstruction of justice, and who received a final order of removal in March 2018.
McLaughlin said other examples included criminal illegal aliens from Laos, Guatemala, Somalia, Sudan, Burma and Sierra Leone, with convictions ranging from sexual assault and homicide to DUI-related deaths, and final orders of removal dating as far back as August 1996.
