Minnesota law prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from holding people under Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers.
This point was highlighted recently after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit March 5 on behalf of plaintiff Maikol Javier Suarez Varela, who is suing the Carver County Sheriff and a sheriff’s deputy for allegedly breaching his Fourth Amendment rights.
The complaint claims Suarez Varela was illegally detained by the Carver County Sheriff’s Office after his bail was paid by the Minnesota Freedom Fund. Instead of releasing Suarez Varela, the lawsuit says the sheriff’s office continued to hold Varela due to an ICE request but not an official warrant. Suarez Varela was then transferred to federal custody.
Minnesota statute states: “Minnesota law prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from holding someone based on an immigration detainer if the person would otherwise be released from custody.”
In the complaint, the ACLU noted that every Minnesota county has been warned “for over a decade” that it is illegal to honor requests from ICE to hold people (also known as detainers), without a court order. ACLU-MN in the last decade has sent multiple letters to counties about state law including in 2014, 2017 and 2025. In February, Attorney General Keith Ellison also issued an opinion that law enforcement could not detain individuals for ICE.
Carver County declined to comment directly as litigation is ongoing but said in an email that the county would have a response to the complaint posted by March 28.
Related: Arrests of immigrants have sharply increased, but Trump faces hurdles in efforts to deport millions
MinnPost checked in with other sheriff’s offices across the Twin Cities seven-county metro to ask what they would do in a case like the one described in Suarez Varela’s lawsuit. Those that responded before this story was published had a uniform response: If the lawsuit is accurate about what happened to Suarez Varela, this would not be the policy of any county jail following the law.
ICE detainers are civil administrative actions, not court orders, so a sheriff’s office cannot legally hold someone past their state charges, explained Dakota County Sheriff Joe Leko in an interview with MinnPost. The sheriff’s office processes individuals who post bail or are released by a judge the same as any other inmate, without holding them longer for ICE. This has been state policy since 2014 and has not changed (yet) under the current administration, he noted.
“It might appear that we’re not cooperating with the federal government. That’s not true,” Leko said. “We just don’t have the authority to in that case. Some counties are labeled as ‘sanctuary counties’ because of this, but this is the case for all counties across the state.”
Related: St. Paul officials respond to White House callout over lack of ICE cooperation
A county will comply and hold someone in a case where a federal judge issues a formal order for a criminal charge, Leko said. Barring that, Minnesota jails cannot hold people simply on request from ICE.
This is not the case for every state.
The difference comes down to the state constitution, according to the opinion issued by Ellison’s office. Under the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, law enforcement officers may initiate an arrest if there is probable cause to believe someone committed any crime. However, the Minnesota Constitution “affords greater protection against unreasonable searches and seizures” and more rigorously limits arrest authority as compared to the U.S. Constitution, according to the AG’s recent opinion.
Related: Minnesota under threat after Trump Justice Department sues ‘sanctuary’ states Illinois and New York
Cases like what is alleged in the ACLU lawsuit can send ripple effects through communities, Leko noted. Communities are already noticing people worried about ICE — they’re avoiding stores, schools and even court dates. This interrupts due process, Leko said.
“I know that it’s alarming and threatening when there are a lot of unknowns out there,” Leko said. “Just know that our sheriff’s offices and local police departments are here to ensure that everybody has their due process and we’re not violating any rights that they have.”
Winter Keefer
Winter Keefer is MinnPost’s Metro reporter. Follow her on Twitter or email her at wkeefer@minnpost.com.
The post Why Minnesota jails can’t legally hold people past their release time for an ICE detainer appeared first on MinnPost.
