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City attorney details litigation, grant-review and immigration guidance in response to federal actions
Summary
The City Attorney’s Office updated the Committee of the Whole on lawsuits joined by Minneapolis against federal directives, a new grant-review process for federal awards with concerning conditions, staff guidance on immigration enforcement responses, and a scaled-up U-Visa review program.
The City Attorney’s Office on Monday told the Committee of the Whole it has taken a mix of litigation, grant review and staff-guidance steps in response to recent federal actions that sought to impose conditions on federal grants or target municipal policies.
City Attorney Kristen Anderson summarized cross-enterprise work and handed the committee to assistants who described three strands of work: litigation, grant review and employee guidance.
Litigation: The city joined San Francisco et al. v. Trump, a lawsuit challenging federal executive orders aimed at restricting funds to jurisdictions described as "sanctuary cities," and the city also joined King County v. Turner, which challenges grant conditions related to immigration enforcement and other policy conditions. Sarah Lathrop of the litigation team said preliminary injunctions in the cases have, for the time being, blocked enforcement of the disputed executive actions and grant conditions against the city while the lawsuits proceed — and that both matters are on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
Grant-review process: Amy Schutt of the city attorney’s office said the office launched a centralized review process in April after a council directive requiring CAO approval before executing federal grants. The office has reviewed more than 80 grants to date and has used the combined strategy of litigation and review to negotiate the removal of problematic terms. Schutt cited an example: a $34 million federal-aid grant for reconstruction (the Nicollet Avenue bridge project passed through state DOT) that initially contained concerning conditions; the city obtained an injunction and negotiated the grant language to remove the disputed conditions.
Immigration guidance and staff training: The office also created staff-facing guidance, training and a dedicated CAO email to answer questions about how employees should respond if federal immigration enforcement actions occur on city property or while staff are working in the field. Alex Kane and Julie Tietz described how the materials were developed collaboratively with multiple departments and made available through the city’s internal training platform.
U-Visa processing: Carrie Johnson of the office said the city expanded attorney review of U-Visa certification requests submitted by crime victims to reduce errors and delays. Since launching the enhanced review process with MPD earlier this year, the office has received 175 applications routed for attorney review; city officials said attorney review helps reduce returned or incomplete applications and improve outcomes for applicants.
Why it matters: The city said a combined approach — litigation to block unlawful federal conditions and a rigorous, centralized grant-review process — has allowed Minneapolis to continue applying for and accepting federal awards while resisting conditions it deems contrary to city policy and resident protections.
Next steps: The office said it will continue to screen grant documents, litigate problematic federal policy actions where appropriate, update staff guidance as needed, and continue the expanded U-Visa review work in partnership with MPD and community attorneys.
