Bondi seeks Minnesota voter rolls, welfare data to “help bring back law and order” in wake of shootings

Attorney General Pam Bondi is pushing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to let the federal government access the state’s voter rolls and public assistance data, as tensions flare in Minneapolis after a second person was shot Saturday by federal immigration agents assigned to a weekslong crackdown in the city.

In a three-page letter obtained by CBS News, Bondi also urged the state of Minnesota to scrap all “sanctuary” policies and “cooperate fully” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including giving the agency access to all local jails and honoring federal agents’ requests to detain people.

“I am confident that these simple steps will help bring back law and order to Minnesota and improve the lives of Americans,” Bondi wrote in her letter to the governor Saturday, which accused state officials of “anti-law enforcement rhetoric” and “putting federal agents in danger.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi is pushing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to let the federal government access the state’s voter rolls and public assistance data, as tensions flare in Minneapolis after a second person was shot Saturday by federal immigration agents assigned to a weekslong crackdown in the city.

In a three-page letter obtained by CBS News, Bondi also urged the state of Minnesota to scrap all “sanctuary” policies and “cooperate fully” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, including giving the agency access to all local jails and honoring federal agents’ requests to detain people.

“I am confident that these simple steps will help bring back law and order to Minnesota and improve the lives of Americans,” Bondi wrote in her letter to the governor Saturday, which accused state officials of “anti-law enforcement rhetoric” and “putting federal agents in danger.”

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon responded with a statement Sunday saying: “The answer to Attorney General Bondi’s request is no.”

Simon called Bondi’s letter “an outrageous attempt to coerce Minnesota into giving the federal government private data on millions of U.S. Citizens in violation of state and federal law,” and said it followed “repeated and failed attempts by the DOJ to pressure my office into providing the same data.”

The Trump administration has pressed for greater access to Minnesota jails and prisons for weeks, suggesting it may roll back immigration operations in the state if it had more power to go into detention facilities to pursue people accused of being in the U.S. illegally. State corrections officials say they already cooperate with ICE, but cooperation varies at the county level.

Bondi said the federal government needs access to state voter roll data to “confirm that Minnesota’s voter registration practices comply with federal law.” The Justice Department has pushed Minnesota and other states to provide voter registration data for months, suing Minnesota for access to the data last year — but the department typically hasn’t tied that push to immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota in the past.

And Bondi demanded that the state share records on Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, so the federal government can “efficiently investigate fraud,” as the Trump administration focuses on alleged fraud schemes in Minnesota public assistance programs.

In his response, Simon noted: “Attorney General Bondi knows full well that the Governor has no formal role in managing our elections or maintaining our voter registration system. She is also well aware that this specific request is the subject of active litigation with our office.”

“It is deeply disturbing that the U.S. Attorney General would make this unlawful request a part of an apparent ransom to pay for our state’s peace and security,” Simon added. “More broadly, the federal government must end the unprecedented and deadly occupation of our state immediately.”

The governor’s office reacted to the letter by urging the Trump administration to “engage in a serious conversation about ending this federal occupation.” In a statement Sunday, Walz’s office sharply criticized the conduct of federal immigration agents, including Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti and another shooting by a federal officer that killed Renee Good earlier this month.

“This is not common sense, lawful immigration enforcement. That is not what this occupation is about. And it’s not what the attorney general’s letter is about,” the statement read.