Minnesota’s ICE Clash Tests Federal-Local Power

Amid a sweeping federal ICE/CBP operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota lawmakers and officials face stark federalism limits that prevent them from easily ejecting or restraining federal agents, leaving Governor Walz to deploy the National Guard as a buffer and rely on courts and lawsuits to slow the crackdown. The piece argues this is a unique constitutional dilemma where Trump’s deployment of federal forces against a blue state risks escalating into a broader confrontation, drawing on historical precedents where federal troops were used only after state authorities failed to protect civil rights. It warns that any escalation could verge on civil conflict, given the Insurrection Act’s vague criteria and the administration’s willingness to redefine “law and order” as justification for intervention.