Judge set to hear arguments on Minnesota's immigration crackdown after fatal shootings
Minneapolis (AP): A federal judge will hear arguments on Monday on whether she should at least temporarily halt the immigration crackdown in Minnesota that has led to the fatal shootings of two people by government officers.
The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month, five days after Renee Good was shot by an Immigration and Customs officer. Saturday's shooting by a Border Patrol officer of Alex Pretti has only added urgency to the case.
Since the original filing, the state and cities have substantially added to their original request. They're trying to restore the state of affairs that existed before the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge on Dec. 1.
The hearing is set for Monday morning in federal court in Minneapolis. Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he plans to personally attend.
They're asking that US District Judge Kathleen Menendez order federal law enforcement agencies to reduce the number of officers and agents in Minnesota to levels before the surge, while allowing them to continue to enforce immigration laws within a long list of proposed limits.
Justice Department attorneys have called the lawsuit “legally frivolous” and said "Minnesota wants a veto over federal law enforcement.” They asked the judge to reject the request or at least stay her order pending an anticipated appeal.
Ellison said at a news conference Sunday that he and the cities filed their lawsuit because of “the unprecedented nature of this surge. It is a novel abuse of the Constitution that we're looking at right now. No one can remember a time when we've seen something like this.”
It wasn't clear ahead of the hearing when the judge might rule.
The case also has implications for other states that have been or could be targets of intensive federal immigration enforcement operations. Attorneys general from 19 states, plus the District of Columbia, led by California, filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Minnesota.
"If left unchecked, the federal government will no doubt be emboldened to continue its unlawful conduct in Minnesota and to repeat it elsewhere,” the attorneys general wrote.
Menendez is the same judge who ruled in a separate case on Jan. 16 that federal officers in Minnesota can't detain or use tear gas on peaceful protesters who aren't obstructing authorities, including people who are following and observing agents.
An appeals court temporarily suspended that ruling three days before Saturday's shooting. But the plaintiffs in that case, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, asked the appeals court late Saturday for an emergency order lifting the stay in light of Pretti's killing. The Justice Department argued in a reply filed Sunday that the stay should remain in place, calling the injunction unworkable and overly broad.
In yet another case, a different federal judge, Eric Tostrud, late Saturday issued an order blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to Saturday's shooting. Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty asked for the order to try to preserve evidence collected by federal officials that state authorities have not yet been able to inspect. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Monday afternoon in federal court in St. Paul.
“The fact that anyone would ever think that an agent of the federal government might even think about doing such a thing was completely unforeseeable only a few weeks ago," Ellison told reporters. “But now, this is what we have to do.”
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V.S. Ugrappa seeks inclusion of Karnataka Reservation Act, 2022 in the Ninth Schedule
Bengaluru: V.S. Ugrappa, president of the Karnataka Rajya Valmiki Samana Manaskara Vedike, on Sunday demanded that the Karnataka State Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes Reservation Act, 2022 be included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Ugrappa said the Act, which enhanced reservation to 56%, must be protected from judicial scrutiny by placing it in the Ninth Schedule. He said a letter has been written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urging the state government to press the Centre to include the Act in the Ninth Schedule and to amend Articles 15 and 16 to strengthen reservation provisions.
Ugrappa alleged that whenever Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Karnataka, he misleads the public by promising inclusion of certain castes in the Scheduled Tribe category. He claimed this has led to a rise in fake caste certificates and said the BJP leadership and government are responsible for the situation.
Referring to the upcoming Union Budget, which he said may cross ₹4 lakh crore, Ugrappa alleged that funds earmarked for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were being diverted for other purposes, despite legal provisions barring such diversion. He demanded that Union Ministers from Karnataka and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai take responsibility for safeguarding the interests of marginalised communities.
He pointed out that Tamil Nadu has successfully implemented a higher reservation percentage and criticised the Centre for introducing economic reservation for upper castes, stating that Dr B.R. Ambedkar had not envisaged economic criteria for reservation. He questioned the disparity in income limits for scholarships, noting that the limit for economically weaker sections among upper castes is ₹8.5 lakh, while it is only ₹2.5 lakh for SC and ST students.
Ugrappa recalled that during the previous BJP government, reservation was increased to 7% for Scheduled Tribes, 15% for Scheduled Castes and 32% for Other Backward Classes following sustained agitation. However, he said vested interests challenged the move in court, leading the Karnataka Administrative Tribunal to strike down the Act and the High Court to stay its implementation, effectively cancelling the enhanced reservation.
While welcoming the resolution passed in the Belagavi legislature session seeking inclusion of the Reservation Act, 2022 in the Ninth Schedule, Ugrappa expressed dissatisfaction that the Centre has not acted on it even after a month.
He also raised concern over the growing number of fake caste certificates in the state, stating that it was causing injustice to genuine beneficiaries. He demanded strict action against both those who obtained fake certificates and officials who issued them.
Several leaders and representatives of Valmiki community organisations and social groups were present at the press conference.
