Illinois and Minnesota sue to block Trump's "occupation"
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A Border Patrol agent pepper-sprays a protester in Minneapolis at the scene of where a federal agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good earlier on Jan. 7. Photo: Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images
Minnesota and Illinois accused the Trump administration of acting as military occupiers in a pair of Monday lawsuits seeking to block the ongoing immigration crackdown.
Why it matters: Immigration has been President Trump's signature domestic issue, but his militarized approach is deeply unpopular and has spurred widespread backlash, particularly after a deadly shooting in Minneapolis last week.
- The lawsuits are the latest attempts by blue states to curtail the immigration operations that have largely focused on Democrat-run cities.
What they're saying: Border Patrol and ICE agents "have acted as occupiers rather than officers of the law," Chicago and Illinois said in their lawsuit.
- They described "uniformed, military-trained personnel, carrying semi-automatic firearms and military-grade weaponry, have rampaged for months through Chicago and surrounding areas, lawlessly stopping, interrogating, and arresting residents, and attacking them with chemical weapons."
- Similarly, Minnesota, in its lawsuit, said the immigration push "is driven by nothing more than the Trump Administration's desire to punish political opponents and score partisan points."
Zoom in: Illinois and Chicago argued that the Trump administration's immigration crackdown is impeding their ability to maintain the well-being of their residents.
- Chicago and Illinois were targeted because Trump disagrees with the state's decision not to use its police to help enforce federal immigration law, the lawsuit alleges.
- A 2017 Illinois law, updated in 2021, bars police in the state from enforcing "federal civil immigration laws." Illinois said that law is vital to ensuring police maintain open lines of communication with all state residents, including undocumented immigrants.
- "Angered by his inability to force Illinois and Chicago to adopt his policies, President Trump threatened to unleash a military assault upon them," according to the lawsuit.
- The lawsuit cited a September 2025 Truth Social post from Trump targeting Chicago that mimicked the movie "Apocalypse Now" that said, "I love the smell of deportations in the morning."
The other side: The Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security didn't respond to Axios' requests for comment.
- "This reads like a far-left manifesto, not a serious lawsuit," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in response to the Chicago lawsuit. "The Trump Administration is enforcing federal law and arresting criminal illegal aliens in cities across the country. Chicago's lawsuit uses aggressive rhetoric meant to smear law enforcement officers and incite violence against them."
State of play: Minnesota argued it was singled out by Trump out of "a desire to retaliate against perceived political enemies" because the state has far fewer undocumented residents than some Republican-led states that have not been targeted.
- Trump has repeatedly singled out Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), who recently announced he will not run for reelection, as being responsible for alleged fraud committed by Somali immigrants.
- The administration has also targeted Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who is a Somali immigrant. Trump has called Somalis "garbage."
