Virginia AG Jones Joins 21 Attorneys General Condemning DOJ Pressure On Minnesota

By Markus Schmidt, Virginia Mercury

January 2, 2026

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones joined 21 colleagues on Thursday in sharply condemning the U.S. Department of Justice’s latest push to force Minnesota officials to surrender sensitive state data and dismantle public-safety policies as a condition for federal cooperation, calling it unconstitutional and an overreach of federal power.

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the multistate coalition — led by New York Attorney General Letitia James — accused President Donald Trump’s administration of exploiting recent violence and unrest in Minnesota over immigration crackdowns to strong-arm state leaders into acquiescing to demands that “intrude on state sovereignty” and conflict with ongoing litigation and court-ordered protections.

“Virginia honors our highly skilled law enforcement agencies that protect our communities and uphold the Constitution,” Jones said in a statement. “We are deeply concerned about the tactics and strategies employed by the federal government in other states that have cost lives and put others at risk in the name of immigration enforcement.”

The Jan. 29 missive was prompted by Bondi’s Jan. 24 letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, which threatened to withhold federal agents unless Minnesota surrendered Medicaid and SNAP data, opened access to voter registration information and rolled back key local public safety policies.

Federal officials framed the demands as a step toward restoring order after clashes between local communities and federal immigration officers in Minneapolis and surrounding areas.

Minnesota officials have fought back. The state, along with Minneapolis and Saint Paul, sued the Department of Homeland Security and related federal agencies earlier this month to halt a massive immigration enforcement campaign dubbed “Operation Metro Surge,” alleging the deployment of thousands of armed agents violated the Constitution and endangered residents.

Legal scholars and congressional Democrats have similarly raised alarms.

Several U.S. senators, including Alex Padilla of California and Dick Durbin of Illinois, have pressed the Justice Department to abandon what they call an unlawful push to centralize sensitive voter data and purge rolls, warning the campaign undermines state election officials’ authority and data privacy.

The confrontation in Minnesota comes amid a broader national showdown over immigration policy and state versus federal authority.

The Trump administration has pursued aggressive enforcement actions against so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that limit local cooperation with federal immigration officials, filing lawsuits against cities from Boston to Chicago and Colorado over their policies.

In several cases, federal courts have sided with states and localities.

A federal judge dismissed the Department of Justice’s lawsuit targeting sanctuary policies in Illinois and Cook County last year, and another court blocked Trump-era efforts to withhold federal funds from sanctuary jurisdictions, ruling such conditions unconstitutional.

Back in Minnesota, federal courts continue to shape the dispute. A judge recently issued a temporary restraining order against a controversial federal policy targeting lawful refugees in the state while allowing the government to continue reviewing cases under narrower parameters.

The federal response has drawn judicial pushback beyond data demands.

In Minneapolis, U.S. District Judge Patrick J. Schiltz sharply rebuked Immigration and Customs Enforcement for ignoring scores of court orders during its intensified enforcement operations, warning that the pattern threatened the rule of law.

Public protest and political pressure — including in Virginia — have escalated the conflict.

Recent deaths involving federal agents, including two high-profile shootings in Minnesota, have fueled widespread demonstrations and calls to scale back enhanced operations. Nationwide protest movements like “No Kings” are organizing larger rallies around federal authority and civil rights issues tied to immigration enforcement.

In response to the backlash, border enforcement officials have signaled a shift. Tom Homan, the administration’s border czar, has indicated a potential drawdown of agents in Minnesota, focusing on targeted operations with greater cooperation from state and local leaders, though messaging remains mixed.

Jones and the coalition made clear in Thursday’s letter that their states will “stand firm against unlawful federal interference” and defend both state sovereignty and the rights of residents, urging the administration to rescind its demands immediately “before anyone else gets hurt.”

States joining the letter included Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

This story was originally published by the Virginia Mercury. For more stories from the Virginia Mercury, visit VirginiaMercury.com.