Days of demonstrations against immigration agents left Minnesota tense yesterday, a day after federal authorities used tear gas to break up crowds of whistle-blowing activists, and state and local leaders sued to fight the enforcement surge that led to the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman.
Confrontations between federal agents and protesters stretched throughout the day and across multiple cities on Monday. Agents fired tear gas in Minneapolis, as a crowd gathered around immigration officers questioning a man, while to the northwest in St Cloud hundreds of people protested outside a strip of Somali-run businesses after Immigration and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrived.
Later that night confrontations erupted between protesters and officers guarding the federal building being used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.
Photo: AFP
With the US Department of Homeland Security pledging to send more than 2,000 immigration officers into Minnesota in what ICE has called its largest enforcement operation ever, the state, joined by Minneapolis and St Paul, on Monday sued US President Donald Trump’s administration to try to halt or limit the surge.
The suit filed says homeland security is violating the First Amendment and other constitutional protections. It accuses the Republican Trump administration of violating free speech rights by focusing on a progressive state that favors Democrats and welcomes immigrants.
“This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, and it must stop,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said at a news conference.
Homeland security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since December.
The days after Renee Good was shot in the head by an ICE officer while behind the wheel of her SUV have seen dozens of protests or vigils across the US to honor the 37-year-old mother of three and to passionately criticize the Trump administration’s tactics.
In response to Monday’s lawsuit, homeland security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accused Minnesota officials of ignoring public safety.
“President Trump’s job is to protect the American people and enforce the law — no matter who your mayor, governor, or state attorney general is,” McLaughlin said.
The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the immigration agent who shot Good, saying she and her vehicle presented a threat. However, that explanation has been widely panned by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and others based on videos of the confrontation.
The government also faces a new lawsuit over a similar immigration crackdown in Illinois. More than 4,300 people were arrested last year in “Operation Midway Blitz” as masked agents swept the Chicago area. The lawsuit by the city and state says the campaign had a chilling effect, making residents afraid to leave home.
The lawsuit seeks restrictions on certain tactics, among other remedies. McLaughlin called it “baseless.”
Meanwhile, in Portland, Oregon, federal authorities filed charges against a Venezuelan national who was one of two people shot there by US Border Patrol on Thursday.
The US Department of Justice said the man used his pickup truck to strike a Border Patrol vehicle and escape the scene with a woman.
They were shot and eventually arrested. Their wounds were not life-threatening.
The FBI said there was no video of the incident, unlike the Good shooting.
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