Amna Nawaz:
For more on ICE’s operations in Minnesota, I’m joined now by the state’s attorney general. That is Keith Ellison.
Attorney General Ellison, welcome back to the “News Hour.” Thanks for joining us.
Keith Ellison, Minnesota Attorney General:
Thanks for having me.
Amna Nawaz:
So, I want to begin with a little legal news today, because I know your office had asked a federal judge to temporarily block a surge of ICE agents to the Minneapolis area. The judge declined to rule today, giving DOJ until Monday to respond.
So does that mean that another surge of agents is on their way? And what are you anticipating in the way of the size and scope of that new surge?
Keith Ellison:
Well, it certainly does mean that they have a little bit more time to search, which concerns me, because the searching they have done so far has been destructive, not helpful to anybody. It has risked public safety. It has depleted public resources. It has increased fear.
And It has eroded Americans’ confidence in their government and has been a whole — wholly a failure in every conceivable way. So I am a little disappointed. But I believe that this is a wonderful judge, who’s a deeply thoughtful person, who really just wants to make sure the best decision she can make.
And that takes time. No doubt, however, that, as time is of the essence, right, and we need relief from this surge, this dramatic escalation founded on lies and untruths, which is doing so much damage.
Amna Nawaz:
I also want to put to you another piece of news today. We heard from the Border Patrol, Bovino, who said on FOX the Department of Justice is also sending additional prosecutors to Minnesota to process those immigration cases. What’s your reaction to that?
Keith Ellison:
Well, I mean, quite honestly, I mean, it — I’m not shocked, because the — President Trump is making sure that he is targeting our state, which is odd because we are not a state that has the most immigration in America.
Many other states have dramatically higher rates of immigration than we do. We do have some, and we’re very proud of our neighbors who’ve chosen to make America their home. But I guess I’m not surprised that we’re getting unwarranted, unasked-for attention from President Trump.
He’s made it very clear that, because he believes that he won Minnesota three times, but in fact lost it, he’s upset about that, has repeated that numerous times. So we expect the persecution will continue while he operates the way he’s operating.
Amna Nawaz:
You heard there the border czar…
(Crosstalk)
Amna Nawaz:
Sorry. Go ahead.
Keith Ellison:
Or until a court tells him he can no longer do it.
Amna Nawaz:
Well, you probably heard in our report there the border czar Tom Homan telling my colleague Liz Landers that this is about what they call their your sanctuary policies in Minnesota and Minneapolis.
Specifically, there is this idea of not honoring an ICE detainer, meaning, if there’s an undocumented person in city or state custody in Minnesota, they’re not handed over to ICE. And I do want to point out that you did issue in an informal opinion last year, you wrote that Minnesota law prohibits law enforcement from holding someone on an immigration detainer if the person would otherwise be released from custody.
So what does that otherwise released from custody mean? Do you ever hand people over to ICE or not?
Keith Ellison:
Well, what it means is that we comply with the law and the Constitution of the United States of America and the state of Minnesota.
And I would submit to you that Minnesota is not a sanctuary city. We have never claimed to be a sanctuary city. We have never claimed to be a sanctuary state. What we do is, we devote all of our state resources to state matters and that the federal government has its responsibility. We don’t interfere with them, but we don’t devote state resources to federal projects like immigration enforcement.
So we don’t really — so this idea of some sort of a sanctuary state is a misnomer. We have never claimed that. And I think it’s wholly — I think the voters and the taxpayers of our state expect that the resources of our state will be devoted for the purposes of our state and that the federal government, they’re paid to do their job and we don’t interfere with them doing it.
We also don’t do their job for them.
Amna Nawaz:
Before we go, I want to briefly ask you too about the ongoing investigation into the shooting and killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent.
I know Minnesota officials were shut out of the federal investigation. Your office has since launched essentially a parallel probe. You have probably seen the news of DHS saying that the ICE officer was injured and suffered internal bleeding. My question to you is, are you going to have any access to any of these medical records, the agent, any other evidence, body camera footage?
And, if not, how can your office carry out a thorough investigation on this issue?
Keith Ellison:
Well, I will just point out that all we have been asking for is a fair, free, open investigation. How they would make such a claim without producing a medical record to prove it I find curious and why in the world they would not just do the investigation.
We have heard that the Department of Justice Civil Rights Department has been excluded from doing the investigation. These people know the most about these cases in the federal government, yet they’re not doing the case.
And at the same time, they’re reject — they’re stopping the state from doing the work that we’re supposed to do. I do not necessarily take the word of those people. I will take the word of a trained medical professional who’s made a diagnosis and a medical record made for the purpose of diagnosis and medical treatment.
But I’m not going to just take the word of some nameless, faceless bureaucrat who’s just — I don’t know. But, I mean, let me just say this.
I find it interesting that the federal government, the federal authorities shut the state of Minnesota out from the investigation, will not let the most expert people in their own institution investigate the case, but like to — like to send out little pieces of information that they believe benefit them, like the video that is purported to be from Jonathan Ross and now this non-medical personnel giving testimony or giving public statements about medical conditions.
So I will stop right there.
Amna Nawaz:
That is Minnesota’s Attorney General Keith Ellison joining us tonight.
Thank you. It’s good to speak with you.
Keith Ellison:
Thank you, ma’am.
