Minnesota and Illinois filed federal lawsuits on Monday aimed at stopping an influx of immigration enforcement officers into their states, following the fatal shooting of a Minnesota woman by an ICE officer last week. The states argue the deployment violates constitutional limits and has endangered residents.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison brought the action in federal court against Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other senior immigration officials, asking a judge to rule that the enforcement surge is unlawful and to block it from continuing.
State officials said the administration is singling out Minnesota for political reasons and engaging in racial profiling. They said they plan to seek an emergency order as early as Tuesday, when a court hearing is scheduled.
“The deployment of thousands of armed, masked DHS agents to Minnesota has done our state serious harm. This is, in essence, a federal invasion of the Twin Cities and Minnesota and it must stop,” Ellison said at a press conference, referencing Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
Illinois launched a parallel lawsuit the same day, with Democratic Governor JB Pritzker accusing DHS of a “dangerous use of force.” The Illinois filing asks a judge to bar U.S. Customs and Border Protection from carrying out civil immigration enforcement in the state and to restrict practices such as deploying tear gas, entering private property without permission, and hiding license plates to obscure official activity.
Minnesota’s complaint also seeks specific limits on federal conduct, including prohibiting officers from threatening or displaying weapons toward individuals not subject to immigration arrest. It further asks the court to require visible identification, use of body cameras, and removal of face coverings that conceal officers’ identities.
The Department of Homeland Security rejected the lawsuit, accusing Ellison of putting politics ahead of safety. DHS pointed to Minnesota’s inclusion on a Justice Department list of jurisdictions it says obstruct enforcement of federal immigration laws.
“For years, these corrupt, activist politicians have refused to protect Minnesotans and are now proposing illegal actions to keep their stranglehold on control and continue stealing from American citizens. We will root out this rampant fraud, we will arrest the criminal illegal aliens hurting Americans with impunity, and we will hold those who aid and abetted this criminality accountable,” Noem wrote on X.
The administration has sent federal law enforcement personnel into several cities and states led by Democrats, a move President Donald Trump says is intended to combat illegal immigration and other crimes, including corruption. Democratic officials have countered that the deployments amount to a partisan misuse of federal power.
The dispute intensified last week after federal officers fatally shot Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, during an enforcement operation in Minnesota. Noem labeled Good a domestic terrorist, alleging she tried to ram an officer with her vehicle, while opponents of the administration have organized protests condemning the shooting as unjustified.
Tensions flared again on Monday when roughly three dozen ICE agents confronted a crowd that gathered around officers questioning a Latino motorist, according to a Reuters reporter at the scene. After some in the crowd threw snowballs, agents fired tear gas, pepper balls, and chemical spray before withdrawing as onlookers cheered.
The motorist, Christian Molina, told Reuters the encounter began after an ICE vehicle struck his car from behind. He said officers then questioned him and his companion about their immigration status and called for reinforcements as the crowd grew upset.
In the months leading up to the shooting, Trump had repeatedly criticized Minnesota, targeting its Democratic leadership and large Somali-American population. He referred to Somali immigrants as “garbage,” highlighted a major welfare-fraud case in which at least 56 defendants have pleaded guilty, and mocked Walz, who ran on the Democratic ticket against him in the 2024 presidential race.
{Matzav.com}
Shas chairman Aryeh Deri launched a sharp attack on Monday evening, accusing activists associated with the Kaplan protest movement of financing demonstrations against Israel’s draft law within the chareidi public, as part of what he described as a coordinated effort to destabilize the government and dismantle the right-wing bloc.
Deri’s remarks came in response to the release of recorded footage featuring a Kaplan activist, the chairwoman of the group Mothers on the Frontline, who is heard admitting: “We worked to create chaos and to break up the chareidi public from within, using the draft issue.”
Speaking following the revelation, Deri said: “We knew this already, but this is clear proof. All the big money behind the campaigns against the draft law comes from Kaplan. The same funding that pays for signs and ads against the so-called ‘draft evasion law’ is also paying for the pashkevilim in chareidi neighborhoods warning about the ‘danger of the draft’ and ‘those destroying the Torah world.’ The goal is one and the same — to bring down the government and the right-wing bloc.”
Deri further claimed that the campaign was aimed at sowing internal discord within the chareidi community. “The objective of the Kaplan activists and the people of Bennett is clear,” he said, referring to former prime minister Naftali Bennett. “They are trying to infiltrate us — admittedly at the margins — through individuals with familiar faces and names. They will yet be exposed. They go to the homes of leading rabbinic figures, secretly record them, play divide-and-conquer, and cause a terrible chilul Hashem.”
According to Deri, the dual campaign — public protests against the draft law alongside targeted messaging within chareidi neighborhoods — is designed to inflame tensions, undermine communal cohesion, and inject chaos into chareidi society in order to achieve broader political aims.
{Matzav.com}A bus driver was taken to the hospital late Sunday night after his vehicle was attacked during a protest by several dozen extremists in Yerushalayim.
According to reports, the disturbance took place at the Shmuel HaNavi–Yechezkel junction, where demonstrators damaged a bus passing through the area and assaulted its driver. The driver required medical treatment and was evacuated to a hospital.
Police forces were dispatched to the scene and acted to restore order and disperse those involved. In a statement, Israel Police said officers from the Yerushalayim District responded after rioters blocked traffic lanes, behaved violently, set trash containers on fire, and disrupted normal life in the area.
Police stressed that “violent disturbances, blocking major traffic routes, and the actions of lawbreakers constitute serious criminal offenses, endanger human life, and could lead to a major disaster.”
{Matzav.com}
An emotional reception was held Sunday night at Yeshiva Orchos Da’as in Yerushalayim for yeshiva bochur Michoel Atlan, who was unexpectedly released from military prison last Friday, earlier than his scheduled release.
The event took place at the yeshiva’s campus in the Bayit Vagan neighborhood, where talmidim and rabbeim escorted Michoel with singing and dancing, lifting him on their shoulders in a powerful display of joy and solidarity.
During the gathering, the rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Shaul Gabay, delivered emotional remarks and broke down in tears as he spoke. He revealed that he had written a personal letter to Michoel while he was incarcerated, but prison authorities refused to allow it inside.
“I want to read a letter I wrote to Michoel, but the prison would not permit it to be brought in,” Rav Gabay said. “They understood very well why — because this letter speaks directly to the deep and true meaning of the Torah world.”
In the letter, Rav Gabay wrote that the reality of Torah students being imprisoned in Eretz Yisroel for learning Torah defies all logic and human understanding. “Hashem allows them to make such mistakes. They think they are acting for harm, but Hashem intends it for good, with one purpose — lehachayos am rav,” he said, invoking the concept of sustaining and giving life to the Jewish people.
Rav Gabay noted that many of those detained come from the Sephardic community, explaining that they possess a unique warmth and love for Torah and a natural ability to draw others close.
He further explained that while yeshiva bochurim are not normally sent out of the beis medrash to strengthen others — a role usually reserved for older figures — in this case, it was a clear act of Divine providence. “If Hashem sends someone against nature, against all logic, there is only one reason: lehachayos am rav. We saw his conduct in prison — learning, completing masechtos — and how it influenced others around him.”
The rosh yeshiva also described a special gift prepared for Michoel by the yeshiva: a booklet listing the personal kabbalos accepted by the bochurim over the past two weeks in his merit. According to Rav Gabay, prison officials initially refused to allow the gift inside, fearing it would strengthen the spirits of the inmates.
“They were afraid of how it would uplift the prisoners when they saw what Orchos Da’as sent him,” he said. “There is no doubt that his early release was above nature and came in the merit of your commitments and chizuk.”
Rav Gabay emphasized that the episode strengthened the inner essence of Torah learning — not learning because it is comfortable, but mesirus nefesh for Torah.
Also addressing the gathering was Rav Yitzchak Abadi, one of the yeshiva’s rabbonim who accompanied Michoel throughout his imprisonment. Rav Abadi stressed the elevated status of a ben Torah, calling him the crown of creation. “They call us draft dodgers,” he said, “but the truth is that they are the ones dodging the beis medrash.”
The evening concluded with Michoel himself making a siyum on Maseches Megillah, which he completed while behind bars.
{Matzav.com}
Shas chairman Aryeh Deri delivered another blunt message to his coalition partners on Monday, warning that any attempt to advance the state budget before the completion of discussions on the draft law will be blocked.
Speaking at a Shas faction meeting, Deri made it clear that budget legislation will not move forward until deliberations on the conscription bill are finalized. “The draft law is advancing in committee,” Deri said. “As you can see, it takes time, but it is moving forward.”
During the meeting, one Knesset member raised the possibility that the coalition intends to place the state budget on the Knesset agenda for a first reading as early as Thursday, with a vote planned for next week.
Deri dismissed the idea outright. “In their dreams,” he said. “There will be no vote on the budget before the discussions on the draft law are completed.”
As previously reported last month, Shas and Degel HaTorah had already conveyed a clear message to Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and coalition leaders that they would not support the budget in its first reading until the draft law clears the relevant Knesset committee.
{Matzav.com}