By Madison McVan | Reporter
Good morning, Reformers.
Tonight: Our editor Patrick Coolican will be talking to Secretary of State Steve Simon about election administration and the threats to our elections from President Donald Trump at an event being put on by Principles First and Fair Vote Minnesota.
The U.S. Department of Justice at 11 a.m. is announcing “charges against multiple defendants for conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers and related charges pertaining to the efforts of a group comprised of members from two Minneapolis-based Antifa groups, to violently oppose immigration law enforcement,” per a media advisory.
I’ll be at the press conference. I wrote last week that the DOJ dropped assault charges against a Cuban man, Juan Carlos Rodriguez Romero, for lack of evidence. On Friday, the DOJ abandoned another assault prosecution, this time against Nasra Ahmed. The judge in Ahmed’s case barred the DOJ from charging her again in order to prevent “prosecutorial harassment.”
These are just the latest in a long line of unsuccessful prosecutions of ICE targets and protesters.
Sources in immigrant rights groups tell me several homes in Minneapolis and St. Paul were raided by federal agents this morning. I’m working to confirm the details. Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez: “Federal agents are being seen across our community as they arrest observers.”
(Also, this is the first I’ve heard of local Antifa chapters. Someone invite me to cover a meeting!)
Story to come.
To the rest of the news:
Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas on Sept. 7, 2025. (Photo by Paul Ratje for The Texas Tribune)
By Alyssa Chen
Most immigrants arrested in Operation Metro Surge were sent to Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, after being detained at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minnesota.
Nearly half of them were eventually deported, mostly to Mexico and Ecuador.
Only two people were deported to Somalia, according to the data, even though the ostensible reason for the immigration enforcement surge of federal agents to Minnesota in the winter was to target Somali Minnesotans. The vast majority of Minnesotans with Somali ancestry are citizens.
The data underscore the modest impact of Operation Metro Surge on the Trump administration’s nationwide goal of 1 million removals per year: Despite expending vast resources here, including 3,000 immigration enforcement agents, the administration managed to deport roughly 1,700 people from Minnesota in three months.
The findings come from a new Reformer analysis of data obtained from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via a Freedom of Information Act request by the Deportation Data Project, which is the most detailed data available on ICE arrests during the surge.
By Jonathan Shorman
As election officials across the country steel themselves for the midterm elections in less than five months, President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting voting by mail threatens to upend their preparations.
The executive order instructs the U.S. Postal Service to refuse to deliver ballots in states that don’t provide lists of voters or meet other requirements. It has created a sense of deep uncertainty and concern among election officials as they consider how to comply, according to a review of court documents and interviews with election officials and experts on election administration.
The March 31 executive order, and a proposed Postal Service rule published June 2 that would put the order’s requirements into effect, raise serious logistical and procedural challenges for those running elections, they say. Rural areas with limited resources are especially at risk, but jurisdictions of all sizes could be forced to scramble.
IN OTHER NEWS
Supreme Court agrees to weigh in on case over rights of some in ‘prolonged’ ICE detention | Reformer via Stateline
Surging stock market, Trump policies boost wealth for top 1% | Reformer via Stateline
Most mass shooters show warning signs before attacks, study finds | Reformer via Stateline
Frustrated by courts, Trump weighed suspending a constitutional right | Blockbuster New York Times piece with Minnesota relevance, gift link
OH BY THE WAY
Here’s a song for your Tuesday.
Have a great day!
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