Attorney General Pam Bondi is now tying federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota to state political cooperation, demanding access to sensitive voter and welfare data as the price for pulling federal agents out of Minneapolis.
Bondi sent a letter to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz this weekend in the wake of the second fatal shooting involving federal immigration officers in the state this month. Saturday, January 24, ICU nurse Alex Pretti was killed during a Border Patrol operation. Minnesota officials and eyewitnesses have disputed the federal account of that incident, and outrage has spread across the state and the nation.
In her letter, Bondi framed the move as an effort to “restore the rule of law” and “support ICE officers,” but she issued three major demands before offering to reduce the presence of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
Bondi’s requirements of the state would include sharing Minnesota’s Medicaid and supplemental food assistance records with the federal government, repealing “sanctuary policies” at the state level, and allowing the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division access to Minnesota’s voter rolls to confirm compliance with federal law.
The demand for voter registration data (including records that state officials say are protected by state and federal law) has ignited fierce backlash from Minnesota’s leadership. State officials have called the request unlawful and an overreach of federal authority, particularly in the context of elections.
This letter lands against the backdrop of a contentious federal immigration crackdown as Operation Metro Surge, which has already drawn protests, legal challenges, and calls from local leaders for ICE and Border Patrol to withdraw from Minnesota cities. During a weekend press conference, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison discussed the decision to file the state’s lawsuit against the government, arguing that the federal deployment has created fear, confusion, and constitutional concerns across the state.
Governor Walz, local officials, and civil rights groups have argued that the presence of unmarked federal officers contributes to fear and chaos rather than public safety, and that fatal shootings like Pretti’s demand accountability, not expanded data access.
Critics of Bondi’s approach see it as an escalation of political pressure rather than a step toward de-escalation, tying enforcement priorities to issues like voter data that sit far outside traditional law enforcement coordination.
The standoff underscores how immigration, federal authority, public safety, and electoral politics have become tightly entangled — and how Minnesotans may continue to feel the reverberations long after this latest letter hits the desks of state officials.
