Our Constitution Is Under Siege — and It's Happening Right Here in Minnesota

On April 11, Rochester-area Democrats gathered for a policy briefing from the ACLU of Minnesota. John Boehler, Policy Counsel for ACLU-MN, walked the room through what he and his colleagues have documented since December 2025: the largest-scale violations of constitutional rights in Minnesota's history.

The presentation was accessible, methodical, and at times stunning. Here's what you need to know — and what you can do about it.

In December 2025, 3,000 federal agents descended on Minnesota in what ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons called the "largest immigration operation ever." They called it Operation Metro Surge. The ACLU of Minnesota calls it something else: the largest deprivation of constitutional protections in our state's history.

Four months later, the evidence is damning — and every Minnesotan, regardless of immigration status, should be paying attention.

What Happened — and What's Still Happening

Operation Metro Surge was billed as a fraud investigation. But months later, not a single fraud-related arrest has been announced. What has been documented instead is a sweeping pattern of constitutional violations: people harassed, handcuffed, and detained without warrants; journalists and peaceful protesters assaulted and arrested without charges; and three people dead — Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and Victor Manuel Diaz.

The numbers are staggering. According to the ACLU of Minnesota, their reporting portal received over 700 reports of constitutional violations — and that's a fraction of the actual incidents, accounting only for those who knew how to report, felt safe doing so, and had a witness. In just two months, Minnesota saw over 1,000 habeas corpus petitions filed — compared to just 73 in the entire preceding year, according to a Minnesota Reformer review of court records.

Nationwide, a Reuters investigation of court records found that more than 400 federal judges have ruled ICE is holding people illegally in at least 4,400 cases since October 2025 — and the administration has continued detaining people even after courts ordered their release.

Six Amendments Under Attack

The ACLU has documented violations across six of the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution:

• First Amendment: Journalists and protesters arrested, then released without charges. Threats issued to foreign press.

• Second Amendment: After the killing of Alex Pretti, the FBI Director claimed gun owners cannot carry firearms to a protest — a statement with no legal basis.

• Fourth Amendment: Warrantless arrests, people handcuffed and forced into vehicles.

• Fifth Amendment: Due process denied. Chief Judge of the District Court of Minnesota has identified over 200 court orders violated by the federal government in Minnesota alone.

• Sixth Amendment: The right to counsel systematically denied. At a detention facility in Whipple, attorneys were told they couldn't see their clients — because doing so would mean letting all attorneys see their clients.

• Tenth Amendment: The State of Minnesota, along with Minneapolis and Saint Paul, has sued the federal government for violating state sovereignty.

Courts Are Pushing Back — Strongly

Federal judges from across the political spectrum have not minced words.

Minnesota's own Judge Patrick Schiltz wrote that ICE has "likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence." Judge Nancy Brasel added that the Constitution "does not permit the government to arrest thousands of individuals and then disregard their constitutional rights because it would be too challenging to honor those rights."

Meanwhile, prosecution after prosecution has collapsed under the weight of agent misconduct. In Minneapolis, felony charges were dismissed after ICE agents made "untruthful statements" and were placed on leave. In Chicago, 92 people were arrested during a similar operation — 74 were never charged, 13 charges were filed and then dropped, and there have been zero convictions. In Los Angeles, the DOJ has lost all six cases that have gone to trial since last June's surge.

This Isn't Just an Immigration Story

The ripple effects are being felt across Minnesota's entire justice system. At least 14 prosecutors have left the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota. Deadlines are being missed. Cases are being dropped — including against individuals charged with trafficking fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine — because DOJ resources have been redirected to immigration enforcement.

The federal government has also issued administrative subpoenas to Google seeking months of private data on individuals — including Social Security numbers, credit card information, and IP addresses — simply because someone emailed a DHS attorney. And federal training for new ICE recruits has been gutted: instruction on the rights of protesters was cut from 120 minutes to 10.

What You Can Do

The ACLU of Minnesota and allied organizations are fighting back in court — through Tincher v. Noem, Hussen v. Noem, Brown v. Mullin, and more. Boehler also outlined priority accountability legislation developed with the national ACLU and shaped by lessons from other states — bills designed to protect Minnesotans from these kinds of abuses going forward.

But litigation and legislation alone aren't enough. Democracy requires an engaged public.

Here's how to take action right now:

• 📋 Report violations: If you or someone you know has experienced or witnessed a constitutional violation, submit a report at aclu-mn.org.

• 📞 Contact your legislators: Call your state and federal representatives and demand they support ACLU-MN's accountability legislation. Use Resistbot or the capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

• 🗳️ Show up: Attend your local DFL unit meetings, volunteer for candidates who will defend civil liberties, and make sure everyone you know is registered to vote.

• 💛 Support the ACLU-MN: Donate, volunteer, or spread the word at aclu-mn.org.

• 🤝 Stay connected: Follow Rochester DFL Senate District 25 for upcoming events, actions, and ways to plug in locally.