Minnesota sues Trump administration to block surge of federal immigration agents

Jan 12 (Reuters) – Minnesota sued President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday, seeking to block a surge of immigration-enforcement officers into the state, following the fatal shooting of a woman last week by federal agents.

The lawsuit, which names U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and several U.S. immigration officials, asks a federal court in Minnesota to declare the surge unconstitutional and unlawful and to prevent the federal government from arresting U.S. citizens and visa holders without probable cause that they have committed a crime.

The Republican administration has deployed federal law enforcement officers into several cities and states largely governed by Democrats in what Trump says is a crackdown on illegal immigration and other crimes including corruption. Democratic leaders in turn have accused Trump of a politically motivated abuse of power.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit.

Tension erupted in Minnesota last week when a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement officer shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who was observing the federal law enforcement action. Noem accused Good of domestic terrorism, saying she was attempting to ram the officer with her vehicle, while critics of the Trump administration have staged a series of protests to denounce the shooting as unjustified.

“Thousands of armed and masked DHS agents have stormed the Twin Cities (of Minneapolis and Saint Paul) to conduct militarized raids and carry out dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional stops and arrests in sensitive public places, including schools and hospitals – all under the guise of lawful immigration enforcement,” the lawsuit says.

The state also seeks a ban on U.S. officers threatening to use physical force or brandishing weapons against people who are not subject to an immigration arrest, and other limits on federal law enforcement action.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward and Jan Wolfe in Washington, additional reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Scott Malone)