By Michelle Griffith | Reporter
Good morning, Reformers.
Back in January, Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued the federal government seeking to halt Operation Metro Surge and asked a judge to declare the immigration enforcement operation unlawful.
Lawyers for Minnesota were back in court yesterday urging the federal judge to refrain from throwing out the case even though Operation Metro Surge has drawn down, according to Courthouse News Service.
Attorneys for Minnesota and the Twin Cities noted that the federal government is unwilling to say that the surge will not return to the state, and the judge agreed.
“There is no suggestion that your clients have stopped any of this or that they pledge not to resume it,” U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez told the Department of Justice attorneys.
The state is still seeking a ruling deeming Operation Metro Surge unconstitutional, which in turn would ban unconstitutional tactics like swarms of agents combing the streets and racially profiling people.
Menendez was still skeptical about whether the lawsuit can continue forward and if Minnesota can prove ongoing and imminent harm. Minnesota’s attorneys said that immigration agents are still in the state and are likely continuing to break the law.
In other news, President Donald Trump last night at the GOP midterm convention told attendees to “pretend that I’m on the ballot,” and he rolled out a more than $1 trillion proposal: He’ll send $5,000 to every adult citizen if Republicans keep control of Congress.
The plan was light on details and Congress would need to approve the measure, which seems unlikely. Recall that last year Trump said he would send $2,000 checks to Americans from tariff revenues, but that never happened. The proposal would almost certainly raise interest rates and inflation.
Onto today’s Reformer.
Legislative Auditor Judy Randall present a report to a joint hearing of the House education finance and children and families committees on Feb. 8, 2023. (Photo by Catherine Davis/House Information Services)
By Alyssa Chen
A Minnesota assisted living facility was able to score average ratings from the state on resident health, safety and staffing, despite five separate incidents in two years that led to one resident death and four hospitalizations.
That’s because the Minnesota Department of Human Services doesn’t factor in serious maltreatment incidents when publishing an assisted living facility “report card” rating, according to a new report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor.
The legislative auditor, a nonpartisan watchdog in the legislative branch, evaluated the licensing process for the over 2,000 assisted living facilities that provide housing and medical services to seniors and disabled adults in Minnesota, and also found the state is frequently late on its routine inspections of assisted living facilities.
By Ariana Figueroa
The Trump administration wants to overhaul the U.S. census to exclude noncitizens who don’t have a green card from the country’s next population count in 2030, according to a Wednesday notice in the Federal Register.
The document, which will officially be published Thursday, could mean major changes for how millions in federal funding is allocated to states, as well as affect the population numbers for determining the number of U.S. House members in each state.
The move is likely to face legal challenges, as the changes run counter to the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment that directs representatives in Congress to be appointed based on the “whole number of persons in each State,” excluding Native Americans “not taxed.”
The amendment language does not specify immigration status.
By Amanda Watford
Twenty-five years after 9/11, the surveillance infrastructure built and expanded in its aftermath has become part of a far larger digital ecosystem — producing tools that can collect and analyze information on a scale unimaginable in 2001.
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, did more than reshape the nation’s approach to terrorism. They changed the architecture of American intelligence and policing. They expanded how government agencies collect, share and analyze information, and brought national security tools deeper into ordinary law enforcement.
Surveillance systems have moved further into everyday life, and those capabilities have raised concerns among some experts and advocates about how surveillance could be used to monitor protests, track immigrants and identify people seeking reproductive healthcare.
IN OTHER NEWS
Doctors from Minnesota among the missing in Nepal flooding | Star Tribune
August ties the record for Earth’s hottest month on the books | New York Times
OH BY THE WAY
The Minnesota State Fair’s Fresh French Fries were terrible this year. There was a long wait at the booth I went to, and I overheard the workers there tell people that all their fryers were going at once to meet the demand. My fries were extra oily and unpleasant.
After many years watching the Food Network (and a quick Google consultation), I believe the numerous batches of spuds dropped the oil temperature and caused my fries to absorb extra oil.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one disappointed. Bring Me the News explained the fair French fries fiasco, noting that the booth also sourced some different potatoes. Sad!
Have a great Thursday.
Correspond: [email protected]
Thanks for reading Daily Reformer. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.