TLDR:
- St. Paul’s new mayor says her city is “under siege” by federal immigration enforcement that she calls political retribution for Minnesota voting against Trump three times
- Mayor Kaohly Her, a refugee herself, says her parents haven’t opened their blinds in days, fearing neighbors will report them as an Asian household to ICE
- Over two dozen Democratic lawmakers held a “shadow hearing” claiming U.S. citizens are being swept up in raids that rely on racial profiling
- Minnesota’s attorney general filed a lawsuit to stop Operation Metro Surge, calling it unconstitutional
Minnesota Democratic officials are slamming the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown as political payback, not public safety.
St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, 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,” Ms. Her said at a “shadow hearing” organized by Rep. Ilhan Omar.
More than two dozen Democratic lawmakers gathered to assess Immigration and Customs Enforcement proceedings under Operation Metro Surge, which the federal government launched last month.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the president’s “vindictiveness in an election loss” drives the targeting of the Twin Cities. Mr. Trump lost Minnesota in 2016, 2020 and 2024.
Ms. Her, who came to the U.S. as a refugee at age 3, said if operations were about safety, agents would target actual threats instead of casting a wide net and racially profiling. Her parents haven’t opened their blinds for days, fearing a neighbor may point them out as an Asian household to immigration officers.
Ms. Omar said the campaign is “so indiscriminate that citizens are being swept up, arrested and carried away to detention facilities.”
Mr. Ellison filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security to end the operation.
Read more:
• Minnesota Democrats rip Trump immigration enforcement as all about political revenge
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The Washington Times AI Ethics Newsroom Committee can be reached at aispotlight@washingtontimes.com.
