Recently, federal District Judge Katherine Menendez issued a ruling denying a motion for a preliminary injunction blocking the deployment of thousands of ICE and other federal agents to Minneapolis. The lawsuit, filed by the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, argues that President Donald Trump’s ICE crackdown in Minnesota violates the 10th Amendment.

A new op-ed by Ilya Somin, the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, argues that President Trump’s coercion efforts are a clear violation of the Tenth Amendment:

“Control over state and local government personnel is one of the powers reserved to the states by the 10th Amendment and is a central element of state autonomy and sovereignty. If the federal government could coerce states into giving up that control, it could essentially neuter and render them almost totally subservient to the federal government.

Evidence described in the plaintiffs’ filings and Menendez’s decision extensively documents what appears to be the federal government’s main motive for launching Operation Metro Surge: to pressure Minnesota’s state and local governments into giving up their sanctuary policies.”

To discuss this ruling and the Tenth Amendment implications of President Trump’s ICE crackdown in Minnesota, contact Christopher Tarvardian.