Minnesota Attempts To Become ‘Sanctuary State’ Despite Illegal Alien Terrorist Apprehended In State

Legislators in Minnesota are seeking to turn the state into a “sanctuary” for illegally present foreign nationals, even after an alleged al-Shabaab terrorist was apprehended.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained a 27-year-old Somali citizen in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 20 who had previously entered the country illegally near San Ysidro, California, and was released on his own recognizance thereafter. Nearly three dozen Democratic state legislators are sponsoring a bill that would ban state law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal agencies to remove unlawfully present foreign nationals from the country, according to the Minnesota Reformer.

The bill, known as the “North Star Act,” was introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives in 2023. Supporters plan to push for the bill’s passage in coming weeks, according to the Reformer.

“We don’t want to waste our precious resources on enforcing a broken federal immigration system,” Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) state Rep. Sandra Feist told the Reformer. “It’s a really big priority for me this session because Donald Trump has said that he wants to marshal state and local resources to enact his immigration vision.”

The bill would also apply to teachers and professors at public educational institutions, local government employees and public health care providers. Among other prohibitions, it bans such persons from applying for federal funding that is contingent on sharing data about immigration status, discriminating in the treatment of individuals based on their immigration status and using state funds to support federal authorities remove illegally present foreign nationals.

“[T]his may be our last opportunity to pass a law like this that would ensure that the state of Minnesota is not complicit in that vision,” Feist told the Reformer.

“Why on earth would the Democrat trifecta in St. Paul make Minnesota a sanctuary state when sanctuary cities and states across America fail to stay afloat?” Stephanie Rivera, a spokesperson for the Republican State Leadership Committee, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The state Senate bill’s lead sponsor, DFL state Sen. Omar Fateh of Minneapolis, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.