Attorney General Ellison wins dismissal of Trump lawsuit to compel Minnesota to enforce failed federal immigration policy

July 21, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison won a key victory yesterday when a Minnesota federal judge — Judge Eric Tostrud, who was appointed by President Trump — dismissed the September 2025 lawsuit that the Trump Administration filed against him, the State of Minnesota, and several local governments in an attempt to compel them to enforce the Administration’s failed immigration-enforcement policies, in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the bedrock constitutional principle of federalism. Attorney General Ellison’s office successfully defended the State and the Attorney General in the lawsuit.

“The court’s clear ruling today reaffirmed the longstanding principle that the federal government cannot force Minnesota or any state to participate in its misguided immigration-enforcement efforts or commandeer state resources for it. State sovereignty and federalism are bedrock principles that lie at the very heart of our federal and state constitutions, and the court once again affirmed them today,” Attorney General Ellison said. “The Trump Administration, however, has no regard for this constitutional principle, so it nonetheless filed this lawsuit as part of its ongoing war against the people of Minnesota and its efforts to intimidate us into submission. They keep learning over and over that the people of Minnesota won’t be intimidated. Nor will I.”

In its lawsuit, the Trump Administration claimed in part that federal law preempted a legal opinion that Attorney General Ellison issued in 2025, which says 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. The court dismissed that count of the Trump Administration’s lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction and because the federal government cannot compel state and local law enforcement to hold persons on immigration detainers.

The Trump Administration also claimed that federal law preempts Minnesota’s state law prohibiting the sharing of driver’s license information for the purpose of immigration enforcement . The court dismissed that claim on the grounds that compelling Minnesota to permit the release of that information would violate the Tenth Amendment’s prohibition on issuing orders to the states.

The court also dismissed Trump Administration claims against ordinances and policies of the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul and Hennepin County on similar grounds.

Federal courts have dismissed similar federal lawsuits against states and local governments in California, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York.