Sanctuary city lawyers plot to help illegal migrants evade ICE in exposed group email

EXCLUSIVE – Leaked emails to and from certain Minneapolis-area lawyers show attempts to actively thwart efforts from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to apprehend illegal immigrant defendants in the sanctuary city.

The emails were sent on Feb. 6 on a private listserv, or email list, that goes out to several hundred members of the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (MACDL), according to a member who spoke to Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity. 

The same day, progressive Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison issued a formal legal opinion that state law "prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from holding someone based on an immigration detainer if the person would otherwise be released from custody," a press release from the AG’s office states. 

"ICE at the PSF," one subject line states, possibly referring to the Public Safety Facility. "LRC just got word that plain clothes ICE officers have been spotted at the Hennepin County PSF today. Let’s do all we can to keep our clients safe in these difficult times," the corresponding email reads.

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Numerous responses from other attorneys ensued, with many suggesting lawyers request Zoom hearings for illegal immigrant defendants so that they do not have to appear in court in person and can therefore avoid ICE officers.

Various sanctuary city officials have made concerted efforts to push back against the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration since he took office in January. President Donald Trump has signed a slew of executive orders aiming to streamline efforts by ICE and other law enforcement agencies to carry out the detention and removal process.

A recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) directive rescinds the previous Biden administration's guidelines preventing ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers from enforcing the law in "sensitive" areas.

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"This action empowers the brave men and women in CBP and ICE to enforce our immigration laws and catch criminal aliens – including murderers and rapists – who have illegally come into our country. Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest," a DHS spokesperson said in a Jan. 21 statement. "The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.

"The Biden-Harris Administration abused the humanitarian parole program to indiscriminately allow 1.5 million migrants to enter our country. This was all stopped on day one of the Trump Administration. This action will return the humanitarian parole program to its original purpose of looking at migrants on a case-by-case basis," the spokesperson added.

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On the Minnesota email list, Ronnie Santana with Tamburino Law Group said, "I was thinking we may want to have a conversation within the organization about pooling together [a]nd asking to convert hearings to [Z]oom for clients that we think would be targeted by ICE."

Santana did not respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital.

JaneAnne Murray with Murray Law LLC said in the email thread that she "called the court’s clerk and orally requested a [Z]oom appearance."

"I explained the immigration circumstances and why I don’t want to lay them all out in a motion that may get reviewed by ICE. Shortly thereafter, I got an email authorizing my client to appear by [Z]oom (I must appear in person). Prosecutor was copied on the email but not consulted on the request," Murray said.

Murray did not respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital. 

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Barry Cattadoris with the Third Judicial District Public Defender’s Office said "select judges in the Third Judicial District Court proactively reached out to the PD’s office," possibly referring to the public defender’s office, "to state that they encourage [Z]oom requests on any cases with immigration issues for State and Defense in light of ICE showing up at courthouses and that requests will be ‘liberally’ granted."

"So ask for Zoom!!!!!" Cattadoris wrote.

Cattadoris noted that while he hasn’t "practiced in Hennepin in over 10 years," he recalled that emails "are not always scanned and put in a formal court file." He noted in a later email that the illegal immigrants he has seen detained in the Third Judicial District "since January 20th have been 1) No lawful status and 2) facing more serious charges."

"But have seen folks with no convictions and just pending serious charges," Cattadoris added.

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Cattadoris did not respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital.

One attorney suggested that it is "probably best to find a reason to request remote that doesn’t explicitly state immigration issues." Another recommended "saying it’s an interpreter case and interpreters are more effective on [Z]oom."

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ACLU attorney Alicia Granse wrote, "Speaking of ICE… We at ACLU-MN are interested in protecting people from their presence at courthouses and at jails."

"At minimum, no official should be holding someone based simply on an ICE detainer – they need a judicial warrant based on probable cause," Granse continued. "If you have clients who have ICE holds and county officials or other law enforcement are honoring them, please email me… We might like to sue the crap out of them."

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"Previous cases we got good settlements for people and there’s even a permanent injunction against Nobles County for holding someone for ICE," Granse said.

Granse did not respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital.

Local officials are under no obligation to coordinate with federal officials insofar as holding illegal immigrants based on a detainer.

A January memo from ICE states that "generally, ICE's immigration enforcement actions in our near courthouses include actions against targeted aliens," including gang members, national security or public safety threats, those with prior criminal convictions, those who have been ordered to be removed from the United States "but have failed to depart," and those who illegally re-entered the country after being previously deported.

George Washington University law professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley told Fox News Digital the "emails suggest that the sole reason for converting hearings into virtual appearances is to evade ICE enforcement," which "will raise a serious legal question over the proper use of court resources and orders."

"There is a legitimate debate over whether ICE should target those seeking judicial review in their cases," Turley said. "Few immigrants will want to risk a hearing if they will be detained as a cost of appearing. However, if ICE has a right to access, the use of virtual hearings to prevent federal authorities could cross the Rubicon for some judges as an improper use of federal authority to deter federal enforcement."

"If there is a legal impediment for ICE to appear at hearings, the parties should ask for a court order of protection and allow the matter to be reviewed by appellate courts," Turley added.

As of publication, officials have not taken any legal action stemming from the emails on the grounds that the correspondence represents an active effort to frustrate law enforcement, and none of the MACDL members who sent the aforementioned emails have been charged with any crime.

A subsection of Title 8 makes it illegal to harbor illegal immigrants. Specifically, Title 8, U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii) "makes it an offense for any person who – knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation."

Another subsection of the same law "expressly makes it an offense to engage in a conspiracy to commit or aid or abet the commission of" harboring an illegal immigrant.

Additionally, 18 U.S.C. § 1346 makes it an offense to "scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services." Honest services fraud involves "the misuse of an individual's position or authority for personal gain or advantage," according to Eisner Gorin LLP. "It can be committed by public officials, corporate officers, and private individuals with fiduciary duties to another person or entity."

In 2019, charges were filed against Massachusetts Judge Shelley Joseph, who was accused of impeding the federal arrest of an illegal immigrant defendant in her courtroom. Prosecutors dropped the charges in 2022 after Trump left office, but the scrutiny did not end there. The Massachusetts Judicial Conduct Commission filed an ethics complaint against Joseph in 2024, according to Reuters.

While none of the MACDL members who sent the emails responded to Fox News Digital, the association sent an email to members following Fox’s inquiries, stating: "The author(s) of the email(s) did not consent to having their statements or advice disseminated beyond our organization and are now being asked for comment for a story. We are angered and feel betrayed on behalf of the impacted people."

Trump’s recent immigration-related executive orders include declaring a national emergency at the border, halting refugee resettlement, ordering a removal process without asylum and border wall reconstruction, and deploying the military to the border.

As of Jan. 31, ICE has arrested 7,412 illegal immigrants and placed nearly 6,000 ICE detainers on individuals believed to be in the country illegally.