President Donald Trump has threatened to “institute the Insurrection Act” and deploy the military after ongoing confrontations in Minneapolis between residents and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including a recent incident where a Venezuelan immigrant was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries while being pursued by DHS.
President George H. W. Bush was the last one to invoke the act, doing so in 1992 in response to the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. The act gives the president the power to “Whenever there is an insurrection,” deploy into “Federal service such of the militia of the other States, in the number requested by that State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to suppress the insurrection.”
However use of this power is conditional, justified only “upon the request of its legislature or of its governor if the legislature cannot be convened,” or “Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings.”
Despite their vocal opposition to ICE’s actions, neither Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz nor Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey appears to grasp that they, not the federal government, are ultimately responsible for the city. Their milquetoast reaction to the civil unrest on the streets of Minneapolis is unbecoming of the positions of leadership they hold. (RELATED: White Girl George Floyd Isn’t Working)
Walz announced last Monday that he is ending his reelection bid. In the same week, he began preparations to mobilize the state National Guard “in the event they are needed to assist local and state authorities.” Too little, too late. (RELATED: Five Quick Things: Minnesota Goes to Hell (Again))
Earlier this month, DHS launched the “largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out by the agency,” deploying 2,000 federal agents and officers, according to the Associated Press. A thousand more were just sent to the city, according to the New York Times. (RELATED: The Media Are Agents of Propaganda)
The initial deployment was a response by the Trump administration following reports of widespread fraud involving Minnesota’s Somali community.
Minneapolis is just the latest American city to serve as a battleground between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and protesters. Before its Minnesota deployment, DHS employed similar operations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland, and Washington, D.C. (RELATED: When Law Enforcement Becomes Political)
In all of the aforementioned cities, excluding Portland, the president also called up the state’s National Guard to assist federal officials carrying out immigration enforcement. His deployment of National Guard troops, in some cases against the express wishes of the governor, has been hotly debated in the courts.
In December, the Supreme Court blocked the president’s attempt to use federalized National Guard troops in Chicago. In its ruling, with Justices Alito, Gorsuch, and Thomas dissenting, the court found that the Trump administration “failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois.”
Later that month, President Trump announced, “We are removing the National Guard from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland, even though CRIME has been greatly reduced by having these great Patriots in those cities, and ONLY by that fact.” The president also threatened to “come back,” with a federal presence, “perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again,” calling it “Only a question of time!” (RELATED: The Eisenhower Precedent: Is Trump Justified in Deploying the National Guard to Chicago?)
Minnesota’s refusal to work with the federal government on immigration detainers would stretch even the staunchest federalist. The Department of Homeland Security claims that “Governor Walz and Mayor Frey REFUSE to cooperate with ICE law enforcement and have released nearly 470 criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets of Minneapolis.”
However, a Minnesota Department of Corrections spokesperson told Minneapolis Fox 9 that they “honor all federal and local detainers, including those from ICE.” The Department of Corrections also pointed to a requirement in state law that mandates the department “notify ICE when an individual committed to their custody is not a U.S. citizen,” including the “anticipated release date so they can arrange transfer from DOC custody if they so choose.”
Minnesota’s refusal to work with the federal government on immigration detainers would stretch even the staunchest federalist.
Hennepin County, which Minneapolis is a part of, states on its county website that its sheriff’s office does not “participate in civil immigration enforcement and does not work with federal agencies on civil immigration enforcement.”
This week, Walz issued a lengthy statement in which he described the deployment of federal agents as part of a “campaign” that “claimed the life of Renee Nicole Good,” adding, “We’ve all watched the video. We’ve all seen what happened.” (RELATED: The Death of Renee Nicole Good: Why the Democrats Will Fail Step Three in the George Floyd Script)
Walz’s claim that the president “wants this chaos… confusion, and yes, he wants more violence” suggests his “direct appeal to the President” to “turn the temperature down” is less a balm for the moment than a false panacea.
His recent shift in stance coincides with a significant dip in his approval. His 48 percent disapproval rating in Minnesota is reportedly the “lowest” recorded in the 20 times the KSTP/SurveyUSA has conducted a poll during his two terms as governor.
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