Patrick J. Schiltz

Force in Play

Overseeing federal litigation against ICE

From December 4, 2025, to February 12, 2026, Minneapolis became the testing ground for the largest federal immigration enforcement operation in American history. Operation Metro Surge deployed 2,000 agents to the Twin Cities, resulting in over 4,000 arrests—and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers. On February 12, White House border czar Tom Homan announced the operation's conclusion, declaring Minnesota 'now less of a sanctuary state.'

Updated Feb 12

Force in Play

Threatened acting ICE Director with contempt over systematic court order violations

States continue challenging federal immigration enforcement on multiple fronts as the legal battle expands beyond state governments to schools and civil rights organizations. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez denied Minnesota's request for a temporary restraining order against Operation Metro Surge on February 2, 2026, citing insufficient proof of constitutional violations despite acknowledging evidence of racial profiling and excessive force. On February 4, a coalition of Minnesota school districts and educators filed a separate federal lawsuit seeking to block ICE enforcement within 1,000 feet of schools, citing traumatized students, lockdowns, and a 22% spike in daily absences following the January 7 killing of Renee Good. The crisis has escalated with two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens—Renee Good on January 7 and Alex Pretti on January 24—prompting the DOJ Civil Rights Division to open a formal investigation into Pretti's death on January 30, now led by the FBI.

Updated Feb 11

Rule Changes

Presiding over ICE enforcement litigation

Minnesota hasn't elected a Republican governor since 2006. Senator Amy Klobuchar wants to keep it that way. On January 29, 2026, she announced her candidacy for governor, entering the race three weeks after Tim Walz abruptly dropped his bid for a third term amid a fraud scandal that prosecutors say could total $9 billion in stolen state funds. Early polling shows Klobuchar leading all potential Republican opponents by 14 to 20 percentage points. On February 4, Minnesota's precinct caucuses revealed the GOP primary landscape: House Speaker Lisa Demuth won decisively with 31.8% of the vote, followed by businessman Kendall Qualls at 25.2% and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell at 17.6%. Hours after Klobuchar's January 29 announcement, Border Czar Tom Homan signaled the federal government may reduce its immigration enforcement presence in Minnesota if state officials cooperate—a development that could reshape the campaign's central tension.

Updated Feb 5

Force in Play

Threatened acting ICE director with contempt charges

An ICE agent shot Renee Nicole Good through her car window on a Minneapolis street January 7, killing the 37-year-old mother instantly. Federal officials claimed self-defense, saying Good weaponized her Honda Pilot to ram agents. But video shows something different: a woman slowly backing up and pulling forward, trying to leave, before an officer fires three shots into her head. "Having seen the video myself, that is bullshit," said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. The shooter: Jonathan Ross, a 43-year-old deportation officer who was dragged fifty yards by a vehicle he tried to forcibly enter just six months earlier. Seventeen days later, on January 24, Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse and legal gun owner. Video shows Pretti filming agents with his phone, getting pepper-sprayed, wrestled to the ground by six agents, then shot at least ten times. DHS claimed he was armed and violent. Video evidence again contradicts the official account. At least six federal prosecutors resigned in protest over how investigations were being handled—pressure to investigate victims' families rather than the shooters. On January 24, FBI agent Tracee Mergen, supervisor of the Public Corruption Squad in Minneapolis, resigned over pressure to "reclassify/discontinue the investigation" into Good's killing and focus instead on her widow Becca. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara noted that two of the city's three homicides in 2026 were committed by federal agents.

Updated Feb 5

Force in Play

Ordered ICE Director to appear in court, threatened contempt proceedings

The Department of Homeland Security deployed 3,000 federal agents to Minneapolis in what it calls the largest immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history. Two months in, two U.S. citizens are dead—Renee Good, 37, shot January 7, and Alexander Pretti, 37, an ICU nurse shot January 24—both killed after DHS claims of self-defense that witness videos contradict. Within 72 hours of Pretti's death, President Trump removed Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino and dispatched Border Czar Tom Homan to take direct control. Homan arrived January 27, met with Governor Walz and Mayor Frey, and announced January 29 that federal withdrawal depends on state cooperation—specifically access to undocumented immigrants in jails and prisons. Bovino departed Minnesota January 28. On January 30, activists executed a 'National Shutdown'—a nationwide day of no work, no school, no shopping—protesting the operation, with hundreds of Minnesota businesses closing and student walkouts across all 50 states. That same day, Attorney General Keith Ellison publicly denied Homan's claims that they had reached any agreement on jail access, calling Homan's statements misleading. Hours later, the Justice Department announced a federal civil rights investigation into Pretti's death, though Trump undercut the gesture by calling Pretti an 'agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist' in a 1:26 a.m. social media post after video emerged of an earlier confrontation with agents.

Updated Jan 31