(Corrects name of Republican candidate, paragraph 9)
By Brad Brooks, Jack Queen and Andy Sullivan
MINNEAPOLIS, Jan 26 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Monday weighed Minnesota’s request to temporarily stop the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the state, following the fatal shooting of a second U.S. citizen over the weekend that sparked a fierce backlash.
Lawyers for the state urged U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez to immediately suspend the administration’s surge of 3,000 immigration agents, which they characterized as a violent and illegal occupation that is putting public safety at risk.
“This administration, your honor, is not content with the rule of law. They are not content with letting the courts work this stuff out. Instead, they put violence into the streets of Minnesota to get what they want,” said Brian Carter, a lawyer with the state attorney general’s office.
Menendez, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, appeared skeptical of the state’s argument that she had the power to shut down the operation on the grounds that it violates the state’s sovereignty.
“I don’t know how you are asking me to identify when the federal government has crossed the line,” she told Carter.
The Trump administration, in a court filing, has called the state’s request an “absurdity” that would make federal law an afterthought.
The hearing was expected to last several hours and Menendez could issue a decision when it concludes.
The surge of agents has spurred massive street protests in below-freezing temperatures, and fierce condemnations by the state’s Democratic leaders. Sixty of the state’s largest businesses, including Target, 3M, UnitedHealth and U.S. Bancorp, called for an immediate de-escalation of tensions between the state and the Trump administration on Sunday.
REPUBLICAN BREAKS WITH PARTY, DROPS GOVERNOR BID
A leading Republican candidate for governor, Chris Madel, dropped his bid on Monday, saying the crackdown had gone too far and had made the race unwinnable for a Republican.
“I cannot support the national Republicans’ stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so,” he said in a video statement.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said he would send the White House border security czar Tom Homan to the state, following Saturday’s shooting of a 37-year-old nurse, Alex Pretti, by immigration agents during a confrontation with protesters in Minneapolis.
Homeland Security Department officials have described the incident as an attack by Pretti, saying agents fired in self-defense after he approached them with a handgun.
But video from the scene, verified by Reuters, contradicts that account. The footage shows Pretti holding a phone — not a gun — as agents wrestle him to the ground. It also shows officers removing a firearm stored near his waistband after he was subdued, moments before they fatally shot him. Pretti was a licensed gun owner.
It was not clear whether Trump’s decision to dispatch Homan to the state amounts to an escalation of the administration’s presence or a climbdown.
Unlike other top immigration officials, Homan has not publicly spoken about the Pretti incident, while other administration officials have characterized the former nurse as a “domestic terrorist.”
In a statement, Trump said Homan “has not been involved” in the Minnesota crackdown “but knows and likes many of the people there.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will remain in her job “with the full trust and confidence of the President,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Sunday that his administration is “reviewing everything” about the incident and said immigration officials would eventually withdraw.
Recent Reuters polling indicates that a significant slice of Trump’s Republican backers – 39% – are wary of the heavy-handed approach, saying harm should be minimized even if this means fewer immigration-related arrests.
In Washington, Democrats in the Senate have said they will oppose a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, raising the likelihood of a partial government shutdown starting on Sunday. Republicans approved a massive budget increase for immigration enforcement last year, but some of them now are demanding answers from the Trump administration.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, Jonathan Allen, Jack Queen, Susan Heavey, Katharine Jackson and Andy Sullivan; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Paul Thomasch, Scott Malone and Deepa Babington)
