Cities’ Latest Anti-ICE Strategy Is A Great Way To Get Sued, Analysts Say
Minnesota officials’ proposed moratorium on migrant deportations is legally flawed, law and immigration experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
City councils in Minneapolis and St. Paul passed resolutions in January asking Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to halt evictions in response to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations across the state. If adopted, the policy could violate federal anti-discrimination laws, the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause that gives precedence to federal immigration law, and the Takings Clause that protects the rights of landlords, analysts told DCNF. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Portland Memo Tells City Officials to Record ICE Agents, Call Activists ‘MigraWatch’ for Help)
On January 21, the Saint Paul City Council unanimously urged Governor Walz to issue a moratorium on evictions to keep families housed and support communities impacted by the federal immigration surge. Learn more at https://t.co/gZWmdGDFro pic.twitter.com/TbMLZsStSO
– City of Saint Paul (@cityofsaintpaul) January 29, 2026
“In short, states, counties and cities can’t opt out of federal laws they don’t like,” said Matt O’Brien, deputy executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. “And it’s all an illegal, performative, virtue-signalling push.” »
Minneapolis City Councilwoman Robin Wonsley, who authored her city’s resolution, did not respond to DCNF’s request for comment. The offices of Walz and Democratic St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Vang Her, who signed his city’s proposal, did not respond to inquiries.
Wonsley’s resolution demands that evictions cease “for the duration of Operation Metro Surge or other future deployments of federal immigration enforcement agents, in order to protect residents who have been harmed by the federal government’s unprecedented attacks.” Both resolutions also assert that the moratorium is necessary to protect “legal observers and community members protecting their neighbors” from law enforcement.
Freezing deportations exclusively for migrants would be illegal, said O’Brien, a former immigration judge and has held several immigration policy positions within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“Exempting foreign nationals from deportation based on their citizenship status constitutes impermissible discrimination against U.S. citizens who would not benefit from a similar reprieve,” he told DCNF.
“Additionally, the Supremacy Clause states that valid federal law takes precedence over state and local laws – and state/local jurisdictions are prohibited from attempting to preempt federal law,” O’Brien said. “So this type of legislation is also subject to a Supremacy Clause challenge.” (RELATED: Anti-ICE Activists in Minnesota Receive $3.3 Million From a Soros-Backed Charity You’ve Never Heard of)
Federal immigration agents arrest a man during an operation led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol in St. Paul, Minnesota, January 27, 2026. (Photo by Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images)
Walz froze evictions in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing public health concerns. Tenants sued Walz over the policy, but a federal court dismissed the suit, saying it did not violate their contractual or constitutional rights.
The Constitution’s Takings Clause gives property owners the right to seek compensation if the government takes control of private land for public use, which could apply to property owners in the immigration scenario, according to Zack Smith, a senior law fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
“These efforts are misguided on several fronts,” Smith told DCNF. “The city councils of Minneapolis and St. Paul should encourage Governor Walz and other officials to help enforce federal immigration law. And regardless of why an eviction moratorium is adopted, it is likely to be challenged as an unconstitutional taking under the Fifth Amendment (a fact Governor Walz should know since he was sued for his Covid-era eviction moratorium policy).”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has already launched a criminal investigation into whether Walz and Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey illegally obstructed immigration enforcement, multiple media outlets reported in January. The DOJ reportedly subpoenaed the two executives.
The DOJ declined to comment on the moratorium proposal.
Minnesota, Minneapolis and St. Paul also face a DOJ lawsuit in September over their sanctuary policies that prohibit local cooperation with ICE, which the Trump administration says violates the Supremacy Clause, according to court records.
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