State is latest to face legal threats in the course of Trump administration\u2019s brutal deportation campaign<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The justice department has sued the state of Minnesota over its sanctuary city immigration policies, making it the latest locality to face legal threats as the Trump administration<\/a> attempts to carry out the president\u2019s campaign promise of mass deportations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMinnesota officials are jeopardizing the safety of their own citizens by allowing illegal aliens to circumvent the legal process,\u201d Pamela Bondi, the attorney general, said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The justice department added that Minnesota\u2019s policies of refusing to cooperate with immigration authorities are illegal under federal law and have resulted in the release of so-called \u201cdangerous criminals\u201d. Immigrants with no criminal record<\/a> are now the largest group in US immigration detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Minnesota cities of Minneapolis, St Paul and Hennepin county join the ranks of Los Angeles<\/a>, New York, Boston<\/a>, and the states of New Jersey and Colorado: Democratic led jurisdictions which are facing similar lawsuits over their sanctuary city policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Trump administration court filing in June \u2013 amid demonstrations against immigration raids \u2013 called Los Angeles\u2019s sanctuary city ordinance \u201cillegal\u201d and asked that it be blocked from being enforced to allow the White House to crack down on what it calls a \u201ccrisis of illegal immigration\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the summer, the justice department sent letters<\/a> to 13 states it classified as \u201csanctuary jurisdictions\u201d, including California and Rhode Island, and 22 local governments, from Boston to Seattle, informing their leaders that they could face prosecution or lose federal funding for \u201cundermining\u201d and \u201cobstructing\u201d federal immigration agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last month, a federal judge blocked<\/a> the Trump administration from cutting off federal funding to 34 \u201csanctuary cities\u201d and counties, according to an executive order Donald Trump signed at the beginning of his second term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump campaigned for the presidency on a promise of deporting millions<\/a> of immigrants from the US. His administration has argued that sanctuary city laws<\/a>, which limit a locality\u2019s participation with federal immigration agents, violate federal law. Brett Shumate, an assistant attorney general at the justice department\u2019s civil division, said in a statement that \u201cshielding illegal aliens from federal law enforcement is a blatant violation of the law that carries dangerous consequences\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Representatives from Minnesota\u2019s governor and attorney general\u2019s offices, the Hennepin sheriff\u2019s office, and the mayors\u2019 offices for St Paul and Minneapolis had not immediately responded to Reuters<\/a>\u2019 requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n