{"id":332735,"date":"2026-01-21T03:09:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T08:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/legal-battles-over-immigration-enforcement-operation-in-minnesota-intensify"},"modified":"2026-01-21T03:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T08:09:07","slug":"legal-battles-over-immigration-enforcement-operation-in-minnesota-intensify","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/legal-battles-over-immigration-enforcement-operation-in-minnesota-intensify","title":{"rendered":"Authorized battles over immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota intensify"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB \">MINNEAPOLIS &#8212; <\/span>As confrontations with federal officers over their massive immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota showed no signs of stopping Wednesday, legal battles over the surge and the local response were also intensifying.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Federal prosecutors served grand jury subpoenas Tuesday to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz&#8217;s office and five other officials in the state as part of an investigation into whether they obstructed or impeded law enforcement during a sweeping immigration operation in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, a person familiar with the matter said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The subpoenas, which seek records, were also sent to the offices of Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties, the person said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The person was not authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The subpoenas came a day after the government urged a judge to reject <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/minneapolis-renee-good-immigration-sweeps-6ae64be5a0d6a718b658a938fb56e567\">efforts to stop<\/a> the immigration enforcement surge that has roiled Minneapolis and St. Paul for weeks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Justice Department called the state\u2019s lawsuit, filed soon after <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ice-shooting-minneapolis-victim-renee-good-d95e86716eec328a288866108acf78eb\">the fatal shooting of Renee Good<\/a> by an immigration officer, \u201clegally frivolous.\u201d Ellison has said the government is violating free speech and other constitutional rights. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, is expected to travel to Minneapolis on Thursday for a roundtable with local leaders and community members, according to sources familiar with his plans who spoke on condition on anonymity because the trip had not yet been officially announced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The subpoenas are related to an investigation into whether Minnesota officials obstructed federal immigration enforcement through public statements they made, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/minnesota-immigration-crackdown-25e46910fcc62fbf5ab341905af9891c\">two people familiar with the matter said Friday<\/a>. They said then that it was focused on the potential violation of a conspiracy statute. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In a subpoena released by Frey\u2019s office, the long list of documents required include \u201cany records tending to show a refusal to come to the aid of immigration officials.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Frey said: \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t have to live in a country where people fear that federal law enforcement will be used to play politics or crack down on local voices they disagree with.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The governor&#8217;s office referred reporters to a statement earlier Tuesday in which Walz said the Trump administration was not seeking justice, only creating distractions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Greg Bovino of U.S. Border Patrol, who has commanded the Trump administration&#8217;s big-city immigration crackdown, said more than 10,000 people in the U.S. illegally have been arrested in Minnesota in the past year, including 3,000 \u201cof some of the most dangerous offenders&#8221; in the last six weeks during Operation Metro Surge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Julia Decker, policy director at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, expressed frustration that advocates have no way of knowing whether the government\u2019s arrest numbers and descriptions of the people in custody are accurate. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Good, 37, was killed on Jan. 7 as she was moving her vehicle, which had been blocking a Minneapolis street where ICE officers were operating. Trump administration officials say the officer, Jonathan Ross, shot her in self-defense, although videos of the encounter show the Honda Pilot slowly turning away from him. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Since then, the public has repeatedly confronted officers, blowing whistles and yelling insults at ICE and Border Patrol. They, in turn, have used tear gas and chemical irritants against protesters. Bystanders have recorded video of officers using a <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/immigration-minneapolis-raid-liberian-trump-eceefc72b9889d33d2bc961f1f02ecc4\">battering ram to get into a house<\/a> as well as smashing vehicle windows and <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/minneapolis-protests-immigration-agents-crowd-control-policing-ice-dhs-bd9335c2b0b793a3bff5c51287a80819\">dragging people out of cars<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Bovino defended his &#8220;troops\u201d and said their actions are &#8220;legal, ethical and moral.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">A <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ice-protest-church-minneapolis-fcc97a29b9c4434c665d76d4811c5a3e\">Minnesota church targeted<\/a> by an anti-ICE protest Sunday decried it as unlawful, while one of the protest leaders called for the resignation of a church leader who works at a local ICE office. About three dozen people entered Cities Church in St. Paul, some walking right up to the pulpit. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cInvading a church service to disrupt the worship of Jesus \u2014 or any other act of worship \u2014 is protected by neither the Christian Scriptures nor the laws of this nation,\u201d Cities Church in St. Paul said Tuesday in a statement shared by its pastor, Jonathan Parnell.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/kristi-noem\">Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem<\/a> described the protesters as \u201cagitators\u201d in a post on X and said, \u201carrests coming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Nekima Levy Armstrong, a lawyer and local activist, called for another pastor who works at ICE to resign from the church, saying his dual role poses a \u201cfundamental moral conflict.\u201d ___<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Richer reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit; Sarah Raza, Jack Brook and Giovanna Dell&#8217;Orto in Minneapolis; Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, and Ali Swenson in Washington contributed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/wireStory\/legal-battles-immigration-enforcement-operation-minnesota-intensify-129409955\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MINNEAPOLIS &#8212; As confrontations with federal officers over their massive immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota showed no signs of stopping Wednesday, legal battles over the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":332738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10884,10557,1913,2697,10574,8300,10883,1609,2842,4914,5090],"class_list":["post-332735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-church-chief","tag-cities-church","tag-federal-government","tag-governor","tag-jonathan-parnell","tag-jonathan-ross","tag-julia-decker","tag-mayor","tag-tim-walz","tag-trump-administration","tag-vice-president-jd-vance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332735"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":332737,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332735\/revisions\/332737"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}