Following the fatal shooting of the 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good last week, Minnesota and Illinois sued President Donald Trump's administration seeking to block the 'invasion' of the immigration-enforcement officers into their states.
The ICE surge should be declared unconstitutional and unlawful, said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who filed the lawsuit naming US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and several US Immigration officials as defendants.
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The state officials said they would ask the court to impose a temporary restraining order on the federal surge.
While addressing a press conference, Ellison said that the deployment of hundreds of armed agents has done harm to the state. The Illinois lawsuit has termed the DHS's actions as "dangerous use of force."
Meanwhile, Noem has lashed out against the lawsuit and accused Ellison of prioritising politics over public safety. "For years, these corrupt, activist politicians have refused to protect Minnesotans, and are now proposing illegal actions to keep their stranglehold on control and continue stealing from American citizens. We will root out this rampant fraud, we will
arrest the criminal illegal aliens hurting Americans with impunity, and we will hold those who aid and abetted this criminality accountable," Noem said on X.
Meanwhile, hundreds are still protesting, seeking justice for Good after ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot her dead. Several videos of the incident circulated on social media, showing different versions. The DHS and President Donald Trump have defended Ross's actions as "self-defence".
With several videos of the incident circulating showing different perspectives, the FBI investigators are definitely going to face the heat.
Trump has described Good as a "domestic terrorist", who was trying to run over the ICE agent. However, the state officials painted a different picture of Good, saying she, a mother of three, "was a kind person."
While analysing whether the ICE agent's shooting was justified, the investigators will have to compare Ross's actions in the videos to the DHS's policy on the use of deadly force. Ross's injury on the field earlier in a similar situation will also have to be analysed.
Reconstructing the scene physically and digitally will have to be done by the officials before concluding as well. However, the state officials are doubtful of a fair investigation with the Trump administration 'protecting' the ICE shooter involved in the incident.