A Department of Justice directive to federal prosecutors to investigate state or local officials who stand in the way of beefed-up immigration law enforcement under the new Trump administration could impact Minnesota’s sanctuary cities.
New Justice Department directive a warning for Minnesota’s sanctuary cities
A directive for federal prosecutors to investigate local officials who stand in the way of immigration law enforcement could impact Minneapolis, St. Paul and county jails.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 22, 2025 at 8:15PM
The three-page memo, obtained by the Associated Press on Wednesday, instructs the Justice Department’s civil division to identify state and local laws and policies that “threaten to impede” the Trump administration’s immigration efforts and potentially challenge them in court.
There is no legal definition of a sanctuary jurisdiction, so it can mean different things depending on the community. Minneapolis and St. Paul have “separation ordinances” that discourage or prohibit employees, including police, from asking residents about their immigration status, except when required by law.
The Minneapolis Police Department has had a policy for more than 20 years that the department does not get involved in federal immigration law enforcement. Its recently updated policy explicitly outlines the department’s noninvolvement, saying enforcement of civil and criminal federal immigration laws falls exclusively within the authority of the federal government.
Both cities limit what data can be shared with federal immigration officials, unless by a court order.
But the biggest point of conflict with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota is at county jails. Jails in the metro and some in greater Minnesota, such as Pipestone and Lyon counties, limit their cooperation with immigration officials, by not providing information on people in custody, not notifying immigration officials when a suspect is released, or refusing to hold prisoners for ICE without a warrant.
In contrast, at least three Minnesota county jails have contracted with ICE in recent years to hold detainees. These deals allow counties to hold people facing civil immigration charges.
In 2024, the St. Paul ICE office swept up 1,255 immigrants with criminal convictions. That’s less than half the number of criminally convicted noncitizens arrested in Minnesota five years earlier, during President Trump’s first term.
The vast majority of undocumented people don’t have criminal records, though, and experts question how far the new Republican administration can go without a massive addition of resources and what they fear would involve widespread violations of civil rights.
Supporters of sanctuary policies argue they allow communities to make the most of limited resources by not spending time and money enforcing civil immigration laws. They say public safety improves when residents are not afraid to report a crime or testify in court because of their immigration status.
Opponents say sanctuary policies attract unauthorized immigrants and lead to higher rates of crimes involving drugs, weapons and human trafficking.
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