Democratic officials doubled down on criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota with one message: This is about political retribution, not public safety.
Over two dozen Democratic lawmakers flocked to St. Paul, Minnesota, to join Rep. Ilhan Omar for a “shadow hearing” to assess Immigration and Customs Enforcement proceedings in the North Star State.
Federal, state and local officials all hammered home the same message: targeting Minnesota is a personal issue for President Trump.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the president’s “vindictiveness in an election loss” is why he’s targeting the Twin Cities in ICE raids, referring to Mr. Trump losing the state in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, who was sworn in this month, described her city as “under siege by the federal government.”
“We are ground zero for Trump’s war on America, a war on our democracy, on our freedoms, on our rights as Americans,” she said.
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If these operations were about safety, federal agents would be going after people who are truly a threat instead of casting a wide net and racially profiling, she added.
Ms. Her came to the U.S. as a refugee at 3 years old. She said her parents have not opened their blinds for days out of fear that a neighbor may point them out as an Asian household to immigration officers.
The federal government initiated Operation Metro Surge last month, largely in Minnesota.
“Trump claims that Operation Metro Surge is about targeting criminals. The reality is even more disturbing,” Ms. Omar said. “They have deliberately blurred the lines between public safety threats, legal immigration and U.S. citizens, creating an enforcement campaign so indiscriminate that citizens are being swept up, arrested and carried away to detention facilities.”
As the state’s general council, Mr. Ellison filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security to end the operation in the state and declare it unconstitutional and unlawful.
“President Trump’s illegal deportation campaign is leaving Minnesotans and Americans detained, arrested, injured and killed, all the while trampling on our basic civil rights and due process,” Sen. Tina Smith, Minnesota Democrat, said at the hearing. “It is making us all less safe, it is dangerous, and it must stop.”
Rep. Betty McCollum, another Minnesota Democrat, said that “these actions, left unchallenged, could mean you’re next,” speaking to “fellow Americans in other states.”
Ms. Omar said the entire purpose of such enforcement is to provoke chaos and fear to justify invoking the Insurrection Act.
Mr. Trump on Thursday threatened to use the 1807 law to deploy troops to quell the protests against the federal officers in the Twin Cities.
Such unrest reached a boiling point last week when 37-year-old Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat, said that instead of de-escalating the situation, the Trump administration has doubled down.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has committed to continuing and even escalating federal immigration operations in Minnesota.
