Authority Is a Responsibility, Not an Excuse

Forget about immigration policy for a second. Like it or not, President Donald Trump’s victory in 2024 came in no small part because most Americans preferred his approach to border security generally and deportation specifically. Let’s even say, for the sake of argument, that Trump came in with a mandate for a restrictionist immigration stance.

You can say all that and still say this: What the federal government is doing in Minnesota is intolerable. It is chaotic, reckless, and overbearing. It is a misuse of authority, an incompetent and authoritarian means even insofar as it pursues a democratically invited end.