ATTORNEY GENERAL RAOUL JOINS AMICUS BRIEF CHALLENGING MILITARIZED AND ILLEGAL DEPLOYMENTS IN MINNESOTA

January 23, 2026

Chicago - Attorney General Kwame Raoul, as part of a coalition of 20 attorneys general, today filed an amicus brief in support of Minnesota's lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's extraordinary campaign of lawlessness during its deployment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to the Minneapolis and Saint Paul area. Over the course of just a few weeks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has sent more than 3,000 federal agents into the area. These agents have fatally shot one resident, Renee Good, seriously wounded others, attacked peaceful protestors and systematically conducted unconstitutional stops and arrests.

In their brief, Raoul and the coalition urge the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota to order an immediate halt to the federal government's lawless actions that are visiting unacceptable harm on Minnesota, its cities and people, and show unprecedented disregard for foundational constitutional principles.

"The violence being brought upon people of Minnesota by federal CBP and ICE agents is the result of the president's obsession with forcing states to comply with his policies and seeking retribution against his political enemies," Raoul said. "I will stand with Minnesota and other attorneys general to fight back against unlawful attacks on any state's sovereignty and in defense of our Constitution and the rule of law."

Beginning in December 2025, DHS began to threaten an escalation in enforcement targeting Minnesota and the Twin Cities area. One operation, dubbed "Operation Metro Surge" - what ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons has called the agency's "largest immigration operation ever" - follows Donald Trump's campaign promise of an aggressive mass deportation program that would be the largest in American history. Throughout the operation, public reporting has indicated that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has deployed as many as 3,000 federal immigration officers to Minnesota. Of that number, 2,000 are ICE personnel, hundreds are Border Patrol agents and others are from Justice Department agencies. More recently, President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, and it is reported that the Pentagon is possibly preparing to deploy 1,500 troops to Minnesota. These actions have endangered public safety, with local law enforcement agencies being forced to divert large portions of their forces to respond to unrest caused by the federal officers.

Since Minnesota filed its lawsuit, the violence by ICE agents has only escalated. Just one week after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a federal law enforcement officer in Minneapolis shot another person in the leg. ICE agents also exploded a tear gas canister underneath a car carrying a couple and six children, trapping them inside their vehicle and rendering a six-month old unconscious, requiring a mother to administer CPR to her infant child. This extreme conduct is ripping at the fabric of society, and every aspect of daily life for Minnesotans is being affected. Pregnant women are afraid to go to their prenatal appointments for fear that they or their loved ones will be detained by federal agents, vibrant shopping centers have turned into ghost towns, and businesses report 50% to 80% in revenue losses due to the presence of immigration officers. As a result of the threats to public safety caused by DHS, more than 100 schools in the Minneapolis Public Schools system were temporarily shut down, affecting 30,000 children and causing school attendance to continue to drop with families afraid to send their kids to school.

In their brief, Attorney General Raoul and the coalition of attorneys general argue that a temporary restraining order is important to protect the public from these deliberately aggressive and unlawful immigration enforcement practices. They highlight that these tactics threaten sovereign powers like policing and promoting the public safety, health and welfare of the people that the Constitution reserves for the states.

Today's brief follows a lawsuit filed by Raoul on Jan. 12 against DHS and Trump administration officials over the unlawful and dangerous tactics used by CBP and ICE agents in Illinois. Raoul's lawsuit describes the various ways the Trump administration has attempted to coerce Illinois over policy differences, including by unlawfully withholding federal funds and attempting to deploy the Illinois and Texas National Guards in the state. In September 2025, DHS deployed quasi-military personnel from CBP and ICE to Illinois, initiating a campaign of violent terror targeted at the state and its residents that involved the fatal shooting of an Illinois resident.

Joining Attorney General Raoul in filing the amicus brief are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.