Minnesota law prohibits law enforcement from holding someone on an immigration detainer if the person would otherwise be released from custody

Attorney General’s Office issues formal opinion as authorized by law

Minnesota law enforcement agencies risk significant civil liability if they enforce immigration detainers

February 6, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office issued a formal legal opinion today that 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.

Under State law, the Attorney General’s Office may issue a legal opinion upon the request of a limited number of public officials or bodies. The Attorney General’s Office produced today’s opinion on the request of Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, who asked the Office for an opinion on whether Ramsey County, or by extension any county, can lawfully hold people in custody based on immigration detainers issued by federal authorities.

The opinion first reviews the kinds of detainers and warrants that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issues. Importantly, federal regulations themselves specify that detainers issued by ICE are requests, not commands, which federal courts around the country have also recognized. In addition, the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which reserves all powers not given to the federal government to the states, prohibits the federal government from commandeering state and local officials to enforce federal regulatory programs.

Next, the opinion addresses whether the continued detention of a person who would otherwise be released from state custody constitutes an “arrest” under the United States and Minnesota Constitutions and concludes that it meets the legal definition of an “arrest.” It then considers whether an immigration detainer alone — which courts have recognized is a civil matter and not a criminal matter — authorizes Minnesota officials to hold someone based on an immigration detainer, and concludes that Minnesota law does not authorize state and local officials to hold or arrest someone based on an immigration detainer. Nor does federal law grant such authority. Further, in an unpublished 2019 opinion, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed an injunction prohibiting Nobles County and the Nobles County Sheriff from holding people because of immigration detainers.

An arrest is a seizure, and both the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Article I, section 10 of the Minnesota Constitution protect people from “unreasonable searches and seizures.” Accordingly, the Minnesota Supreme Court has held that “a jailer or prison superintendent can be held liable for false imprisonment in an action by a prisoner detained beyond the expiration of his sentence.” Because no Minnesota civil law authorizes immigration detainer arrests, Minnesota law enforcement agencies risk significant civil liability if they enforce immigration detainers.

The full opinion is available on Attorney General’s website.