A federal judge in Minnesota dismissed a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice challenging state and local policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The case, filed last year by the Trump administration, targeted laws and ordinances in Minnesota that restrict police from inquiring about immigration status and bar coordination with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
U.S. District Judge Eric C. Tostrud, appointed by former President Donald Trump, ruled on Monday that the challenged state and local rules do not infringe on federal powers. In his decision, Judge Tostrud wrote that these measures regulate how state and local officials carry out their duties but do not compel or prohibit federal employees from acting on immigration enforcement.
The lawsuit, announced in September, named the state government along with the cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Hennepin County. The Trump administration argued that these policies constituted active obstruction of federal immigration efforts rather than passive refusal to support them. The Justice Department sought a judicial declaration that the laws were unconstitutional.
State and local officials defended the policies as consistent with community values and important for public safety. They said the measures help create an environment where undocumented residents can cooperate with law enforcement without fear of deportation. Minneapolis lawyers responded that effective policing depends on maintaining open lines of communication with all community members, regardless of immigration status. Officials also asserted that the policies do not interfere with federal immigration enforcement, which remains a federal responsibility.
The administration’s suit also challenged a legal opinion issued by Minnesota’s attorney general that county jails could not detain individuals for immigration authorities beyond their original release date.
The lawsuit came amid a large-scale immigration enforcement operation in late 2025 and early 2026, during which federal agents conducted thousands of arrests in the Minneapolis area. The crackdown sparked several heated encounters between agents and local residents, including three shootings. President Trump and his allies accused state Democrats of undermining federal immigration authority by limiting cooperation with ICE. In response, Minnesota officials described the federal campaign as politically motivated and filed a separate lawsuit asserting it violated state sovereignty.
Similar legal challenges by the Trump administration against other Democratic-led jurisdictions have mostly been unsuccessful. A comparable case in Illinois was dismissed last year, reflecting ongoing tensions between federal immigration enforcement efforts and local policies that seek to protect undocumented immigrants. The Justice Department did not immediately comment on Monday’s ruling.