USA, Minnesota governor rejects conditions for reducing immigration operations

Rome, 26 Jan. (LaPresse) – The US state of Minnesota on Sunday rejected conditions set by US Attorney General Pam Bondi to reduce federal immigration operations in the state following growing tensions after 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 on Sunday, rejecting Bondi’s request 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 requests: grant the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) access to Minnesota voter registration lists, share state welfare programme records with federal authorities, and repeal sanctuary city policies that limit cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These measures ‘will restore the rule of law, support ICE officers and end the chaos in Minnesota,’ Bondi said. ‘Her letter is an outrageous attempt to force Minnesota to provide the federal government with private data on millions of US 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 as part of Operation Metro Surge, which began in December 2025. The federal deployment now exceeds the total number of sworn police officers in both cities.