Federal judges heard two separate cases Monday regarding immigration action in Minnesota.
The first case involves Minnesota's attorney general calling for an end to Operation Metro Surge and for agents to leave the state.
Following the shooting death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti over the weekend, attorneys for the state of Minnesota wrote to the judge and asked for a quicker remedy. In the letter they described the situation as "grave" and said they believed the Trump administration is acting unlawfully.
Judge Katherine Menendez heard arguments for more than two hours Monday, but did not immediately make a ruling.
The judge acknowledged that Minnesota was in "shockingly unusual times," but said she didn't know if that gave her leeway to seek a remedy under the 10th Amendment, which constitutionally protects states' rights.
A letter this weekend from Attorney General Pam Bondi to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accused local authorities of breaking federal rules.
"The Pam Bondi letter, it's kind of reveals what this is all about," said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. "This is not about fraud and it's not even about immigration. And it's certainly not about law enforcement. It's about handing over documents of the state of Minnesota, private information including voting information to the federal government. That's what this is about. And that makes that's why we're fighting it."
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Is a separate hearing Monday, a federal judge in St. Paul was considering a case that would force the federal government to preserve any evidence that could be used in future court proceedings, especially when it comes to people in the state of Minnesota who are harmed by ICE activities.
Judge Eric Tostrud ordered Saturday that the Trump administration would be stopped from "destroying or altering evidence" related to Pretti's shooting. An attorney for the state sought the ruling in order to secure evidence from federal officials that Minnesota hasn't reviewed yet.
