The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have sued the Department of Homeland Security and its leaders over what the state and city officials call “inflammatory and unlawful policing tactics” by agents of DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and other DHS subsidiary agencies. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her announced the action Monday afternoon. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota. The suit cites DHS’s Operation Metro Surge, calling it “an unprecedented deployment of federal immigration enforcement agents from numerous agencies of Defendant U.S. Department of Homeland Security.” This “has instilled fear among people living, working and visiting the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area (the ‘Twin Cities’),” it continues. “Thousands of armed and masked DHS agents have stormed the Twin Cities to conduct militarized raids and carry out dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional stops and arrests in sensitive public places, including schools and hospitals — all under the guise of lawful immigration enforcement.” The federal government claims it has sent more than 2,000 DHS agents to the Twin Cities in the surge, a number that exceeds Minneapolis and St. Paul’s police forces combined. This has nothing to do with the stated objective of fighting fraud, the suit says, and “is driven by nothing more than the Trump Administration’s desire to punish political opponents and score partisan points.” The suit deems the surge “a federal invasion.” “Defendants’ actions appear designed to provoke community outrage, sow fear, and inflict emotional distress, and they are interfering with the ability of state and local officials to protect and care for their residents,” the document goes on. It cites the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer last week. After Good’s death, “the Trump Administration, including at least some of Defendants, repeatedly issued statements to create false narratives of lawlessness in Minnesota and to accuse the victim of ‘domestic terrorism,’” the suit notes. “Despite Good’s killing, DHS agents continued to unlawfully terrorize the Twin Cities community throughout the day,” it continues. The suit names as defendants DHS and Secretary Kristi Noem; John Condon, acting executive associate director of Homeland Security investigations; ICE and its acting director, Todd Lyons; Marcos Charles, acting executive associate director, Enforcement and Removal Operations; U.S. Customs and Border Protection and its commissioner, Rodney Scott; U.S. Border Patrol and its commander, Gregory Bovino; and David Easterwood, acting director of ICE’s St. Paul Field Office. The suit asks the court to declare the defendants’ actions unconstitutional, violating state sovereignty under the 10 th Amendment and punishing speech protected by the First Amendment. It also seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions preventing the defendants “from using unreasonable and unjustifiable force” against residents of the Twin Cities and elsewhere in Minnesota, “making warrantless arrests … without individualized determinations of immigration status,” and implementing the surge or any similar action. “We allege that the obvious targeting of Minnesota for our diversity, for our democracy and our differences of opinion with the federal government is a violation of the Constitution and of federal law,” Ellison said at a news conference Monday afternoon. “Donald Trump doesn’t seem to like our state very much,” he added. “Minneapolis didn’t ask for this operation, but we’re paying the price,” Frey said. “When federal actions undermine public safety, harm our neighbors, and violate constitutional rights, we have a responsibility to act. That’s exactly what we’re doing today.” “Federal law enforcement’s occupation of our city is putting us all at risk,” Her added. “They've come into Saint Paul and needlessly invaded our neighborhoods and homes; they’re targeting us based on what we look and sound like. Our residents are scared, and as local officials, we have a responsibility to act. Today we’re standing side by side with Minneapolis and the attorney general to fight back.” Story developing …