The fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by U.S. government officers have increased scrutiny of the immigration blitz on the streets of Minneapolis, but it was in a local courtroom on Monday where a federal judge raised a skeptical eye toward the Trump administration’s overall pressure campaign on the state.
Judge Katherine Menendez questioned the government’s motivation behind the immigration crackdown, pointing to a letter Attorney General Pam Bondi sent Saturday to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The letter laid out conditions for scaling back deportation operations in Minnesota, which included demands that the state to give the federal government access to its voter rolls, turn over state Medicaid and food assistance records and repeal sanctuary city policies.
“I mean, is there no limit to what the executive can do under the guise of enforcing immigration law?” Menendez asked.