By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge quashed the Trump administration's attempt to compel information from several Minnesota officials, including the state's Democratic governor, as part of an investigation into whether their opposition to immigration enforcement was a crime, according to a court order made public on Monday.
The ruling by Minnesota-based U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz is a significant blow to a Justice Department investigation started at the height of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis in January.
"The Court finds that the dominant purpose of the challenged subpoenas is to coerce Minnesota officials into assisting the federal government with enforcing civil immigration law and to harass and retaliate against them for failing to do so," Schiltz, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, wrote in the ruling. The order issued on June 17 was unsealed on Monday.
The subpoenas, issued to six state and local offices, sought to gather information on whether Democratic officials had impeded immigration enforcement in their public resistance to the Trump administration's deployment of thousands of agents to conduct deportation roundups.
The surge led to numerous violent confrontations with residents and activists, including the killings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents.
The Justice Department under President Donald Trump sought a wide range of information on state and local policies and directives related to federal immigration operations. The recipients included Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, whom Trump has frequently derided and who served as Democrat Kamala Harris' vice presidential nominee in 2024.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Daphne Psaledakis and Bill Berkrot)
