Minnesota rejects U.S. attorney general's conditions for scaling down immigration operations

Alsharq Tribune-Ahmed Essam 

The U.S. state of Minnesota on Sunday rejected conditions set by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to scale down federal immigration operations in the state, amid mounting tensions following the second fatal shooting involving federal immigration agents.

"The answer to Attorney General Bondi's request is no," Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said in a statement Sunday, rejecting Bondi's call for what she described as a common-sense solution with the federal government.

In a letter sent Saturday to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Bondi outlined three demands: granting the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) access to Minnesota's voter registration lists, sharing state welfare program records with federal authorities, and repealing sanctuary city policies that limit cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

These measures would "restore the rule of law, support ICE officers, and bring an end to the chaos in Minnesota," said Bondi.

"Her letter is an outrageous attempt to coerce Minnesota into giving the federal government private data on millions of U.S. citizens in violation of state and federal law," Simon said in his statement.

Approximately 3,000 federal immigration agents have been deployed to the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul under Operation Metro Surge, which began in December 2025. The federal deployment now exceeds the combined number of sworn police officers in both cities.

Border Patrol agents on Saturday shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, in Minneapolis, marking the second fatal shooting by federal immigration agents in Minnesota in less than three weeks, and sparking renewed outcry and protests against the federal government's immigration operations in the state.