Regional officials challenge federal immigration operation in court

Legal representatives for a major northern city and its surrounding state reportedly urged a federal judge on Monday to halt the current administration’s expansive immigration enforcement campaign in the region, arguing that the operation, dubbed “Metro Surge,” allegedly constitutes an “unlawful” and “unchecked invasion” that violates the state’s sovereignty protections under constitutional provisions.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, reportedly appointed by the previous administration, ultimately adjourned court without indicating when she planned to rule on the emergency request, though she allegedly acknowledged both the timeliness and importance of the case before her.

“If I had a burner in front of the front burner, this would be on it,” Menendez reportedly said.

At issue in the case is an emergency lawsuit filed earlier this month seeking to end the current administration’s deployment of some 3,000 federal immigration agents in the state, who were reportedly sent there in recent weeks as part of the nationwide immigration crackdown.

Lawyers for the state described the operation Monday as “essentially an army,” according to court observers.

They also argued that the sustained presence of federal immigration agents there had allegedly created an environment “so unprecedented, so intense, [that] it has created such an environment of fear,” and urged the court to issue a temporary restraining order immediately to block the surge of additional officers into the state.

“Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today,” Lindsey Middlecamp, a lawyer for the state, reportedly urged the court.

The hearing also notably focused on a letter that the Attorney General sent to the state’s governor hours earlier, seeking access to the state’s voter rolls and certain public assistance data, such as enrollment information. The Attorney General’s letter described the three requests to the state as an effort to “help bring back law and order” to the region.

But lawyers for the state disputed that characterization in court, saying Monday that the letter was “extortionate” and amounted to a “ransom note.”

Menendez reportedly pressed Justice Department lawyer Brantley Mayers for specifics on the letter in question. It “really, strongly suggests that, if the state will do three things,” then “this will end,” she said, referring to the federal enforcement operation.

“Is the executive trying to achieve a goal through force that it can’t achieve through the courts?” she allegedly asked Mayers.

Mayers and other Justice Department lawyers declined to offer additional details on the letter, according to observers. They spent their time doubling down on their assertion that the leader’s actions are legally sound, noting in a filing that the Department of Homeland Security has “delivered” on campaign promises “by surging resources to the removal of aliens who entered this country illegally,” including in the northern state.

Brian Carter, a lawyer for the state, told the court that the situation on the streets “is so dire” that “relief is appropriate now — and it should be granted now.”

“At its heart, the issue is that the federal government is attempting to bend the state’s will to its own,” Carter said. “And that is not allowed under the Constitution.”

The emergency hearing comes as tensions between federal agents and protesters continued to escalate in recent days following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and protester killed this month in a confrontation between federal immigration officers and civilians.

Still, Menendez did seem wary of the claim that she could determine that the administration’s actions violated state sovereignty protections under constitutional provisions.

“How do I decide when a law enforcement response crosses the line from a legitimate law enforcement response to a response that violates [constitutional protections]?” she reportedly pressed lawyers for the state.

Still, she said it was unclear if it was “appropriate” to halt the full federal operation or whether more narrow options might suffice.