DHS head Kristi Noem accuses Minnesota of harboring "criminal illegal aliens," defying federal immigration laws
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is taking aim at Minnesota and its Twin Cities, alleging the deliberate obstruction of the enforcement of federal immigration laws, and protecting "dangerous criminal aliens from facing consequences."
on Thursday of 36 states and numerous cities and counties across the U.S. it claims "undermine the rule of law and endanger the lives of Americans and law enforcement."
Minnesota is designated on the list as having "self-identification as a state sanctuary jurisdiction," naming Minneapolis, St. Paul and 20 counties: Carver, Cottonwood, Goodhue, Hennepin, Le Sueur, Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, Nicollet, Nobles, Otter Tail, Pipestone, Ramsey, Scott, Steele, Todd, Watonwan and Wright counties.
This stems from an April 28 executive order by the Trump administration to publish a list of "sanctuary jurisdictions" and establish consequences for those listed, including identifying "appropriate Federal funds ... including grants and contracts, for suspension or termination."
"We are exposing these sanctuary politicians who harbor criminal illegal aliens and defy federal law," said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. "President Trump and I will always put the safety of the American people first. Sanctuary politicians are on notice: comply with federal law."
The list was published amid news of a leadership shake-up within ICE, with officials calling the changes "organizational realignments" to "help ICE achieve President Trump and the American people's mandate of arresting and deporting criminal illegal aliens and making American communities safe."
Last week, CBS News reported the Trump administration and ICE seek to ramp up immigration arrests and are "conducting an operation to expedite the deportation of migrants with court hearings scheduled in the near future."
Minneapolis specifically could lose more than $54 million in federal funding. In response to the executive order, Mayor Jacob Frey said he won't comply, calling it illegal.
"I don't want our police officers tracking down undocumented immigrants when we need to prevent homicides from taking place and car jackings," Frey said. "[Trump] can't require local law enforcement to do certain and specified federal work. That would be against the state law because federal immigration policy is not one of the enumerated policies under state law that police can conduct that business in."
Minneapolis has an ordinance in place barring law enforcement and public officials from enforcing federal immigration laws.
