Attorney General Ellison defends Metro Surge lawsuit from DOJ’s motion to dismiss

Court held hearing yesterday on DOJ’s motion to dismiss AG Ellison’s lawsuit challenging the legality of Operation Metro Surge

September 10, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) — Yesterday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s Office and the Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul defended their lawsuit challenging Operation Metro Surge (OMS) from a motion to dismiss filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) at a hearing held by the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

The DOJ argued that the drawdown of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents and cessation of Operation Metro Surge (OMS) removed the underlying rationale for the State of Minnesota’s lawsuit challenging OMS. However, the State and Cities argued that because the federal government has not disavowed its policies and has not agreed the wrongful behavior would never recur, the injuries to their sovereign interests in ensuring public health, public safety, and public education remain imminent.

Attorneys from the Attorney General Ellison’s Office as well as the Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul argued during the 90-minute hearing, as well as in a filing prior to the hearing, that Minnesota remains under coercive and retaliatory threats that an overwhelming number of DHS agents could return. In a February 13, 2026 interview, Border Czar Tom Homan said that, while OMS may have ended, “over 800 flights a day land in Saint Paul, Minnesota. If we need to come back, we’ll come back.” More recently, the Trump administration has threatened to deploy immigration agents at polling places.

“Operation Metro Surge may have ended, but the harms caused by it are ongoing,” said Attorney General Ellison. “And the Trump administration has also threatened Minnesota with its ability to bring another illegal surge of ICE agents whenever they like, so I’m continuing my lawsuit against Trump and his regime over Metro Surge. The constitutional guarantees of due process were violated over and over by poorly trained and supervised federal agents. Peaceful protesters were assaulted and arrested, people’s civil rights were violated left and right, and three Minnesotans were shot, two of them fatally. My job as Attorney General of Minnesota is to protect our state and its people, which is why I’m seeking to have Metro Surge declared unconstitutional and unlawful, so it can never happen again.”

The court will now decide whether to grant the DOJ’s motion to dismiss or whether Attorney General Ellison’s and the City of Minneapolis and Saint Paul’s lawsuit challenging Operation Metro Surge may proceed to discovery.

Background to the lawsuit

On January 12, 2026, Attorney General Keith Ellison, on behalf of the state of Minnesota and alongside the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, filed a federal lawsuit against DHS asking the court to end the unprecedented surge of DHS agents into the state and declare it unconstitutional and unlawful. The State and the cities allege the surge amounts to a violation of the First and Tenth Amendments of the Constitution, as well as the Constitution’s guarantee of equal sovereignty between state and federal governments. They also allege actions undertaken prior to and during the surge violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

On April 21, they filed an amended complaint, which incorporates new information about the severe harm Operation Metro Surge inflicted on the state of Minnesota, cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the people of Minnesota, and Minnesota businesses. That information includes survey data illustrating the extreme racial bias in DHS’ enforcement actions and tactics, estimates that Minneapolis and Saint Paul residents lost over $240 million in wages during the Operation Metro Surge, and data showing businesses in Minneapolis and Saint Paul lost over $600 million in revenue during the surge of DHS agents into Minnesota.

The lawsuit seeks to have Operation Metro Surge declared unlawful to ensure similar violence and harm are not inflicted on another state or on Minnesota once again. It also seeks to protect Minnesota from further unlawful DHS enforcement policies.