On Monday, Minnesota and Illinois filed separate lawsuits against the federal government, according to The New York Times. Both states accuse the government’s massive deployment of immigration officers as unconstitutional, proclaiming it's an infringement on their states’ rights. 

"People are being racially profiled, harassed, terrorized, and assaulted," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement. "Minnesota police are spending countless hours dealing with the chaos ICE is causing. This federal invasion of the  Twin Cities has to stop."

Ellison, alongside other Minnesota leaders and Illinois officials, argues these deployments violate the 10th Amendment by flooding Democratic cities with thousands of armed, masked agents for on-the-ground raids and even helicopter operations—reportedly without congressional approval.

The lawsuit also said, "The occupation of Illinois and Chicago is intended to coerce plaintiffs to abandon their policies, which value and respect the state’s immigrants, and devote their resources to further the immigration policies of the current administration."

​Illinois wants a court block on Customs and Border Protection running immigration arrests statewide without explicit approval, calling it an "organized bombardment" that created a climate of fear among residents. They point to downtown marches, apartment raids, and two shootings last year as proof of overreach. 

"The Illinois case may turn on whether the court thinks Congress has granted these agencies broad enough authority to take these actions," said David A. Super, a Georgetown University law professor, to the Times. "The Minnesota case could turn on whether the court believes that the saturation of the state with unusual numbers of D.H.S. agents is unduly burdening the state and its cities and people."

In defense, the Department of Homeland Security’s spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said Ellison was "prioritizing politics over public safety" and vowed to prove in court that enforcing immigration laws is a federal duty.

"We have watched in horror as unchecked federal agents have aggressively assaulted and terrorized our communities and neighborhoods in Illinois, undermining Constitutional rights and threatening public safety," Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement shared by NBC.