Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are jointly suing the Trump administration over the influx of federal immigration agents taking over the Twin Cities.

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The lawsuit seeks to stop the “unprecedented surge” of more than 2,000 federal agents deployed by the Department of Homeland Security that has resulted in the killing of a 37-year-old mother and countless claims of civil rights abuses since Department of Homeland Security forces began taking hold in Minnesota late last year. The filing further accuses the federal government of violating the 10th Amendment of the Constitution by usurping Minnesota’s right to police itself.

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Among the defendants named in the lawsuit are Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem; acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons; and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Cmdr. Greg Bovino.

Watch: full news conference announcing lawsuit

What was initially dubbed “Operation Metro Force” in early December started as a response to claims of rampant fraud within the Somali community. It has since grown to a contingent of militarized, masked federal agents that state and city officials say outnumbers the local police force.

“This is actually a really strong lawsuit,” David Schultz, law and political science professor at Hamline University, said. 

Among his reasons, Schultz says the attorney general argues that federal agents are violating the 10th Amendment, which, in part, reinforces the balance of power and limits federal authority, and has been at the core of the debate between federal and state powers. 

“The core argument here is to say that, listen, the state of Minnesota, including Minneapolis, wants to perform some basic functions — it has some basic, what’s called police power, authority to protect the health, safety and welfare of its people. [With] the federal government coming in, [it’s] undermining the capacity of the state of Minnesota to be able to perform its core functions,” Schultz said. 

“And what the Supreme Court has said consistently in the last few years is that the federal government cannot force states, as states, to do certain things,” Schultz added. 

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“Operation Metro Surge is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities,” the lawsuit states.

“The unlawful deployment of thousands of armed, masked, and poorly trained federal agents is hurting Minnesota,” Ellison said. “People are being racially profiled, harassed, terrorized, and assaulted. Schools have gone into lockdown. Businesses have been forced to close. Minnesota police are spending countless hours dealing with the chaos ICE is causing. This federal invasion of the Twin Cities has to stop, so today I am suing DHS to bring it to an end.”

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded to the lawsuit, saying:

“Keith Ellison made it abundantly clear today he is prioritizing politics over public safety. It really is astounding that the Left can miraculously rediscover the Tenth Amendment when they don’t want federal law enforcement officers to enforce federal law — which is a clear federal responsibility under Article I, Article II and the Supremacy Clause — and then go right back to federalizing every state responsibility possible when they get back in power. Spare us.

“Sanctuary politicians like Ellison are the EXACT reason that DHS surged to Minnesota in the first place. If he, Tim Walz, or Jacob Frey had just done their sworn duty to protect the people of Minnesota they are supposed to serve to root out fraud and get criminals off the street — if they had worked with us to do it — we wouldn’t be having this conversation in the first place.

“President Trump’s job is to protect the American people and enforce the law — no matter who your mayor, governor, or state attorney general is. That’s what the Trump administration is doing; we have the Constitution on our side on this, and we look forward to proving that in court.“

Read the full lawsuit below: