Boston Chron - Boston: Coalition of Mayors Across U.S. File Amicus Brief Challenging Ice Surge in Twin Cities

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Mayor Michelle Wu co-led a coalition of mayors from across the United States to file an amicus brief in federal district court in Minneapolis to stop the Trump Administration's unconstitutional and illegal surge of federal agents into Minneapolis and St. Paul (the Twin Cities). The brief, which supports a lawsuit filed by the State of Minnesota and the Twin Cities, seeks a temporary restraining order to end the occupation by more than two thousand federal agents. ICE's aggressive enforcement tactics have created mass unrest in the community, undermined public safety, injured several Minnesotans, including children, and led to the death of civilian Renee Nicole Good.

"The Trump Administration's ongoing occupations of peaceful American cities are unconstitutional and illegal," said Mayor Michelle Wu. "These politically-motivated invasions of cities, whether by ICE agents or the National Guard, endanger our residents and violate federal law. We are urging the courts to curb the dangerous impulses of a reckless federal administration."

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This amicus brief is filed in response to the Trump Administration's launch of "Operation Metro Surge," an ongoing enforcement effort that has led to an unprecedented increase of thousands of masked and armed federal law enforcement officers in the Twin Cities, effectively creating a military occupation of those cities. It is the latest in a series of deployments across the country that constitute a perilous increase in the presence of militarized federal immigration officers and which have caused mounting fear, tensions, and violence in the cities and localities amici represent.

The coalition of amici cities argues that the Trump Administration is invading peaceful American cities to unlawfully punish communities that do not instruct local police to engage in Trump's mass deportation agenda. The Tenth Amendment protects the sovereignty of States and bars the federal government from commandeering state and local resources for federal purposes. This argument has been upheld in cases around the country where the Trump Administration has sought to strip funding or otherwise punish jurisdictions with local policies disfavored by the President.

"Local governments shouldn't have to govern under threat," said Jill Habig, CEO of Public Rights Project. "Operation Metro Surge is a military occupation of an American city. Cities are standing together against this coercion campaign that spreads fear, diverts local resources, and undermines public safety."

The Public Rights Project served as amici counsel. The full list of mayors, cities, and counties who joined the brief is below.

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Local Governments and Mayors

City of Boston, Massachusetts
City of Alameda, California
City of Albany, New York
City of Albuquerque, New Mexico
City of Alexandria, Virginia
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
City of Ann Arbor, Michigan
City of Baltimore, Maryland
City of Beaverton, Oregon
City of Bend, Oregon
City of Cambridge, Massachusetts
City of Chelsea, Massachusetts
City of Chicago, Illinois
City of Cincinnati, Ohio
City of Columbus, Ohio
Dane County, Wisconsin
City and County of Denver, Colorado
City of Hillsboro, Oregon
City of Los Angeles, California
City of Lynn, Massachusetts
City of Madison, Wisconsin
Martin Luther King, Jr. County, Washington
City of Melrose, Massachusetts
Monterey County, California
City of New Haven, Connecticut
City of Newton, Massachusetts
City of Northampton, Massachusetts
Pima County, Arizona
City of Portland, Oregon
City of Sacramento, California
City of San Diego, California
City and County of San Francisco, California
County of Santa Clara, California
City of Seattle, Washington
City of Shoreline, Washington
City of Somerville, Massachusetts
City of Tucson, Arizona
City of West Hollywood, California
Karen Bass, Mayor, City of Los Angeles, California
Celina Benitez, Mayor, City of Mount Rainier, Maryland
John Clark, Mayor, Town of Ridgway, Colorado
Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, Mayor, City of Alameda, California
Bryan Kennedy, Mayor, City of Glendale, Wisconsin
Quinton D. Lucas, Mayor, City of Kansas City, Missouri
Kim Lund, Mayor, City of Bellingham, Washington
Dominick Pangallo, Mayor, City of Salem, Massachusetts

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