Illinois and Minnesota Sue U.S. Government over Immigration Operations

Kevin R. Johnson

12 Jan 2026 — 1 min read

Illinois and Minnesota have sued the U.S. government challenging immigration operations.

Here is the Illinois press release: Illinois Sues Trump Administration for Dangerous Enforcement Tactics and Unlawful Use of Force. It begins as follows:

"[t]oday, the State of Illinois filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over the unlawful and dangerous tactics used by Customs and Border Protection (CPB) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Illinois. . . . The lawsuit . . . challenges the Trump Administration’s federal overreach using tactics exceeding the authority granted by Congress, including arresting people without warrants or probable cause, indiscriminately deploying tear gas, and other illegal enforcement policies."

The lawsuit asserts that the federal government has attacked Illinois’ ability to carry out its core sovereign functions and violated the Tenth Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act, as well as harmed Illinois residents because of their recently adopted illegal enforcement policies.

Read more about the lawsuit from the Office of the Illinois Attorney General HERE.

https://multimedia.illinois.gov/ioci/2026/ATG/011226-BCPICELitigation/011226-BCPICELitigation.mp4

The Hill reports that, on the same day as the filing of the Illinois suit, Minnesota have sued the Trump administration to block the surge of federal immigration enforcement agents in the wake of a fatal shooting by a federal officer last week. "Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said at a press conference . . . that the state has been unlawfully targeted because of its diversity and `differences of opinion' with the federal government, saying it amounts to a `federal invasion.'” Here is teh Minnesota Attorney General's office press release.

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