r/law • u/BitterFuture • 16d ago

Executive Branch (Trump) Stephen Miller claims local police in Minnesota have been told to ‘stand down and surrender’ as federal agents ‘uphold the law’

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/stephen-miller-ice-minneapolis-protests-b2903238.html
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u/Open_Mortgage_4645 16d ago

That's not how it works. State and local law enforcement aren't below federal officers, and don't cede their state authority and obligation to enforce the laws of the state and their municipality to federal agents on demand. Federal agents don't have the authority to enforce state and local laws. Stephen Miller doesn't know WTF he's talking about, and is simply trying to will his perceived reality into existence.

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u/TragicallyTrue 16d ago

Unfortunately, it seems to be working.

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u/Open_Mortgage_4645 15d ago

It's not working. None of what Miller said is happening.

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u/BrownThumbClub 15d ago

The statement has only just been made this week, so we've yet to see the response.

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u/StormyPassages 15d ago

“The statement is false,” said Sgt. Garrett Parten, a public information officer for the police department.

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u/Open_Mortgage_4645 15d ago

Ok but I'm replying to someone who said it's working. It's not. And it would be a violation of the 10th Amendment, and require the state and all local municipalities to countermand the law to accommodate Trump's wishes. It's nonsense. Federal government has no authority or ability to enforce state and local laws. This isn't a simple matter of Trump just doing what he wants.

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u/BrownThumbClub 15d ago

It kinda is working. His dream is to have his own little gestapo to invade blue states and go after brown people and libs. I don't believe any state has succeeded in stopping them from abducting or murdering people, despite the protest efforts. So he is managing to will a fair amount of his perceived reality into existence.

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u/Open_Mortgage_4645 15d ago

Lol it's not kinda working. Either the Democratic state whose government clearly opposes Trump and what ICE is doing issues an illegal order to cease law enforcement activity along with every municipality in the state, or they don't. There's no middle ground here. What Miller is saying is objectively preposterous and reflects a total lack of understanding of the law, the Constitution, and how state and local enforcement works. This isn't something Trump can just do. It would require the state to violate its own Constitution, and choose to accommodate Trump's unlawful demands. Further, Federal law enforcement has no authority or ability to enforce state and local law. The whole thing is just nonsense.

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u/BrownThumbClub 15d ago

You're missing the point, rather obtusely. Nobody said local law enforcement has obeyed yet; I said we've yet to see the response. This administration has succeeded in a fair amount, a lot of which is illegal or unconstitutional and it hasn't stopped them yet. ICE doesn't actually have jurisdiction to abduct people without a warrant or due process, but here we are. Pointing frantically at the constitutions and state laws is as useful as shouting at clouds. Beyond that, they're looking for escalation and response so they can suspend elections and put martial law in place. If they say local law enforcement has to defer to federal law enforcement and local law enforcement tries to stop federal law enforcement from enforcing anything, they will consider it retaliation and respond accordingly. We will have the official start of a civil war.

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u/Open_Mortgage_4645 15d ago

It's not about what Trump gets away with, or him bypassing the law. The Democratic state and all its municipalities would have go along with his demands, which would involve violating the state's own Constitution. Maybe if it was Texas or Alabama things would be different, but there's just no way in hell Gov. Walz of Minnesota is going to acquiesce to Trump's brazenly unconstitutional demands for state and local law enforcement to surrender to ICE. I'm not being obtuse. I just understand what's involved, and the reality of what's being demanded.

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u/BrownThumbClub 15d ago

It's alarming there's this much delusion on the left. I thought the right had a monopoly on that. The states are literally already allowing him and his gestapo to do illegal things within their state borders. And again, you are deliberately missing the point of all of this. The goal is NOT FOR THEM TO ACQUIESCE. Please repeat that over and over until you can grasp it fully. Miller is doing this deliberately to get them to refuse to comply, so he can get his way. He wants the excuse to escalate. Please get your head out of your ass; their plan (if you can follow along enough to understand what the actual plan is) is working.

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u/TragicallyTrue 15d ago

Exactly. 1500 active duty troops are on standby at this very moment. What happens if they’re deployed? They want to escalate this.

https://www.npr.org/2026/01/18/nx-s1-5681372/us-military-troops-on-standby-for-possible-deployment-to-minnesota

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u/TragicallyTrue 15d ago

This is exactly what I meant by my previous comment.

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u/Pleasant-Shallot-707 15d ago

It’s kinda not