COALITION OF MAYORS ACROSS U.S. FILE AMICUS BRIEF CHALLENGING ICE SURGE IN TWIN CITIES
Led by the City of Boston and the Public Rights Project, 44 mayors, cities, and counties argue that the deadly surge of federal agents into Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota is an unlawful and unconstitutional effort to punish these communities, endangering Americans
BOSTON - Friday, January 23, 2026 - Mayor Michelle Wu co-led a coalition of mayors from across the United States to file an amicus brief in federal district court in Minneapolis to stop the Trump Administration's unconstitutional and illegal surge of federal agents into Minneapolis and St. Paul (the Twin Cities). The brief, which supports a lawsuit filed by the State of Minnesota and the Twin Cities, seeks a temporary restraining order to end the occupation by more than two thousand federal agents. ICE’s aggressive enforcement tactics have created mass unrest in the community, undermined public safety, injured several Minnesotans, including children, and led to the death of civilian Renee Nicole Good.
“The Trump Administration’s ongoing occupations of peaceful American cities are unconstitutional and illegal,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “These politically-motivated invasions of cities, whether by ICE agents or the National Guard, endanger our residents and violate federal law. We are urging the courts to curb the dangerous impulses of a reckless federal administration.”
This amicus brief is filed in response to the Trump Administration’s launch of “Operation Metro Surge,” an ongoing enforcement effort that has led to an unprecedented increase of thousands of masked and armed federal law enforcement officers in the Twin Cities, effectively creating a military occupation of those cities. It is the latest in a series of deployments across the country that constitute a perilous increase in the presence of militarized federal immigration officers and which have caused mounting fear, tensions, and violence in the cities and localities amici represent.
The coalition of amici cities argues that the Trump Administration is invading peaceful American cities to unlawfully punish communities that do not instruct local police to engage in Trump’s mass deportation agenda. The Tenth Amendment protects the sovereignty of States and bars the federal government from commandeering state and local resources for federal purposes. This argument has been upheld in cases around the country where the Trump Administration has sought to strip funding or otherwise punish jurisdictions with local policies disfavored by the President.
“Local governments shouldn’t have to govern under threat,” said Jill Habig, CEO of Public Rights Project. “Operation Metro Surge is a military occupation of an American city. Cities are standing together against this coercion campaign that spreads fear, diverts local resources, and undermines public safety.”
The Public Rights Project served as amici counsel. The full list of mayors, cities, and counties who joined the brief is below.
Local Governments and Mayors
- City of Boston, Massachusetts
- City of Alameda, California
- City of Albany, New York
- City of Albuquerque, New Mexico
- City of Alexandria, Virginia
- Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
- City of Ann Arbor, Michigan
- City of Baltimore, Maryland
- City of Beaverton, Oregon
- City of Bend, Oregon
- City of Cambridge, Massachusetts
- City of Chelsea, Massachusetts
- City of Chicago, Illinois
- City of Cincinnati, Ohio
- City of Columbus, Ohio
- Dane County, Wisconsin
- City and County of Denver, Colorado
- City of Hillsboro, Oregon
- City of Los Angeles, California
- City of Lynn, Massachusetts
- City of Madison, Wisconsin
- Martin Luther King, Jr. County, Washington
- City of Melrose, Massachusetts
- Monterey County, California
- City of New Haven, Connecticut
- City of Newton, Massachusetts
- City of Northampton, Massachusetts
- Pima County, Arizona
- City of Portland, Oregon
- City of Sacramento, California
- City of San Diego, California
- City and County of San Francisco, California
- County of Santa Clara, California
- City of Seattle, Washington
- City of Shoreline, Washington
- City of Somerville, Massachusetts
- City of Tucson, Arizona
- City of West Hollywood, California
- Karen Bass, Mayor, City of Los Angeles, California
- Celina Benitez, Mayor, City of Mount Rainier, Maryland
- John Clark, Mayor, Town of Ridgway, Colorado
- Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, Mayor, City of Alameda, California
- Bryan Kennedy, Mayor, City of Glendale, Wisconsin
- Quinton D. Lucas, Mayor, City of Kansas City, Missouri
- Kim Lund, Mayor, City of Bellingham, Washington
- Dominick Pangallo, Mayor, City of Salem, Massachusetts
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