On September 30, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis, the city of St. Paul, Hennepin County, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna S. Witt over what the DOJ calls their sanctuary policies that they claim interfere with the federal government’s enforcement of immigration laws. The lawsuit asserts that the state and localities were carrying out policies that are illegal under federal law and that refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities resulted in the release of what it described as “dangerous criminals.” Both Minneapolis and St. Paul have city ordinances that prohibit cooperation with federal law enforcement, and local police do not ask about immigration status during routine stops, but the state has no law making it a “sanctuary state” for undocumented immigrants.