A federal judge heard arguments Monday in a lawsuit over ICE and border patrol agents’ treatment of protesters during the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota.
The lawsuit, brought by the ACLU of Minnesota and several law firms, alleges that plaintiffs were illegally detained and threatened during the operation.
Attorneys for the federal government asked the court to dismiss the suit. In federal court in Minneapolis, they argued that it’s moot, now that the surge that began last December has ended.
“There has been such a significant drawdown of surged agents and officers,” Department of Justice attorney Kathleen Jacobs said. “There is no likelihood of subsequent harm.”
But Judge Kate Menendez questioned if the federal government had met the legal standard to eliminate the possibility of harm. She asked attorneys for the federal government about statements from federal officials, including White House Border Czar Tom Homan, who said when the surge ended that the government could hypothetically bring more agents in again.
“The government is robustly defending the legality,” Menendez said to Jacobs during the hearing. “You don’t point to a single official saying, ‘we won’t come back’ or ‘we won’t do this again.’”
Attorneys for the federal government said that was purely hypothetical. Jacobs said there are currently fewer than 300 ICE and border patrol agents on the ground in Minnesota.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs also argued that people are still facing possible repercussions, even after the surge’s end. They said allowing the lawsuit to continue could address that.
Attorney Caitlinrose Fisher pointed to some plaintiffs’ claims that federal agents took photos of them, saved their license plate numbers and told them they were entered into a database of domestic terrorists.
In January, Menendez issued a preliminary injunction stemming from this case, which barred federal agents from using chemical irritants against peaceful observers and protesters. But an appeals court overturned that order weeks later.
Menendez said she plans to rule soon on whether to dismiss the case or allow it to continue.