I hope that everyone understands that what is going on in Minnesota is not just a spicier example of politics as usual.
The underlying issues of the present situation are ones of kind, and not degree.
I had time this morning to listen to the first hour of oral arguments in the federal case State of Minnesota v. Noem (File No. 26-cv-190).
Here, the State of Minnesota is asking a federal district judge (Kate Menendez, Biden appointee) to order U.S. Homeland Security (Border Patrol, ICE, etc. [DHS]) out of Minnesota.
The state makes its argument based on the tenth amendment, which reads (in its entirely),
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
The state interprets that language to mean that the state gets to decide which federal laws they will allow to be enforced, while enjoying all of the benefits and privileges of statehood.
To my nonlawyer ears, the argument made by the state is a political one, not a legal one. (To be clear, we didn’t get to the defense presentation in the first hour of the hearing.)
The state argues that they did not “invite” DHS into Minnesota to enforce federal law, so DHS must leave when asked.
To her credit. Judge Menendez sounded skeptical. If the state objects to 3,000-4,000 federal agents operating in Minnesota, how many should Judge Menendez permit: 1,000? 50? 0?
The state wouldn’t hazard a guess.
I suppose we’ll find out soon what Menendez thinks, and then we’ll hear soon thereafter from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Fun fact: Judge Menendez mentioned the 400 plus habeas corpus cases filed this month in district court asking for the release of illegal aliens held by ICE. I’ve been tracking that phenomenon in this series.
