Minneapolis Editorial: This Is the 'Storming of the State'

The editorial board of the Minneapolis Star Tribune is condemning the tactics of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in its city in blunt fashion: "The occupation of Minnesota by ICE cannot stand," reads the editorial. Federal officials including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have said "Operation Metro Surge" is necessary in the wake of the state's welfare fraud scandal. "That is not what Minnesotans are currently experiencing," the editors write. "What we are witnessing is the storming of the state by the federal government."

Immigration enforcement is necessary, continues the editorial, but "enforcement carried out without restraint, transparency or proportionality does not strengthen the rule of law. It corrodes it." The piece echoes the sentiment of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who said Wednesday that what's happening in the state "defies belief," per Fox 9. "This long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement," he said. "Instead, it's a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota." Countering this is President Trump, who on Thursday blamed the "corrupt politicians of Minnesota" for not stopping "agitators" and threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act.