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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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A U.S. city has no legal power to tell the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to leave, legal experts have said.
The death of Renee Nicole Good, 37, a U.S. citizen who was shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday, has sparked conversations about how federal law enforcers should operate in U.S. cities—with the city's mayor Jacob Frey telling the agency to "get the f*** out of Minneapolis" during a news conference.
But speaking to Newsweek, legal experts said that federal law trumps local law so cities have no ability to remove federal agents from their jurisdictions.
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The Context
Good was shot and killed by an ICE officer during a traffic stop in the city on a residential street in south Minneapolis, near East 34th Street and Portland Avenue.
The Trump administration has defended the unnamed ICE agent, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claiming Good had "attempted to run a law enforcement officer over" before she was shot. But critics have condemned the killing and said Good posed no threat to law enforcement.
The shooting came after the Trump administration deployed federal agents to the state recently in response to allegations of welfare fraud.
He has also deployed agents to other cities as part of his broader crackdown on immigration and crime. Good's death was at least the fifth linked to immigration crackdowns since 2024, according to The Associated Press.
What To Know
Legal experts told Newsweek American cities could not remove ICE agents.
Jennifer Breen, an associate professor of law at Syracuse University College of Law in New York told Newsweek: "Cities do not have the right to tell ICE to leave."
Minneapolis is a sanctuary city, meaning it limits state and local law enforcement's cooperation with federal immigration authorities. But Breen said this status does not extend to stopping federal agents from carrying out federal work.
She said: "The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution makes clear that the federal government cannot coerce states or cities into doing federal work. So when a city designates itself as a 'sanctuary' city, it is simply saying that it will not proactively help the federal government enforce federal immigration law.
"The federal government retains the power to enforce federal law anywhere within U.S. borders (even sanctuary cities) because federal law takes precedence over state and local laws when they conflict. A local mayor would have no authority to tell ICE to leave, though of course the city may choose to not proactively help ICE carry out its objectives."
Meanwhile, Matthew Mangino, a former district attorney in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, affirmed: "The Mayor of Minneapolis, or any city for that matter, cannot prohibit ICE agents from patrolling or operating in the city to enforce immigration laws.
"However, the city can refuse to cooperate with ICE agents and as Mayor Jacob Frey in Minneapolis has done, sign an Executive Order prohibiting federal, state, and local agencies from using any City-owned parking lots, ramps, garages, or vacant lots to stage civil immigration enforcement operations," he told Newsweek.
What People Are Saying
**Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in an official statement: "**ICE officers were out in enforcement action, they got stuck in the snow because of the adverse weather... They were attempting to push out their vehicle and a woman attacked them... and attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer... acted quickly and defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him. My understanding is she was hit, and is deceased. These vehicle rammings are domestic acts of terrorism."
Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey, at a news conference, according to Fox 9: "So they are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense. Having seen the video of myself, I want to tell everybody directly that is bull****."
Minnesota Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar wrote on X: "You’re lying. There was no attempt to run the officer over and no ICE agents appear to be hurt. Get out of our city."
The Minneapolis City Council said in a statement: "Renee was a resident of our city who was out caring for her neighbors this morning and her life was taken today at the hands of the federal government.
President Donald Trump on Truth Social: "The situation is being studied, in its entirety, but the reason these incidents are happening is because the Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis. They are just trying to do the job of MAKING AMERICA SAFE. We need to stand by and protect our Law Enforcement Officers from this Radical Left Movement of Violence and Hate!"
What Happens Next
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI are leading investigations into the use of force.
A GoFundMe has been set up to support Good's family.
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