Corey-Gruenes et al. v. Freeborn County et al.

The ACLU of Minnesota and pro bono co-counsel Maslon LLP will serve Freeborn County on behalf of four Freeborn County residents whose property taxes are being used to fund an illegal agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In March 2025, the Freeborn County sheriff unilaterally entered into an illegal 287(g) agreement with ICE.

A crucial feature of the 287(g) program is that the agreements can only be applied consistent with state and local laws, including the Minnesota Constitution. In Minnesota, it is illegal to hold individuals for ICE after they have been released from state custody. Minnesota also does not authorize state or local law enforcement to conduct civil immigration arrests. However, there have been multiple reports of this happening across the state.

Under 287(g) agreements, it is the county and its taxpayers – not ICE – who are legally and economically liable for the inevitable lawsuits that follow. Countless lawsuits have put county taxpayers on the hook to pay hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in liability when their sheriffs have unlawfully arrested and detained people at ICE’s request.

The four plaintiffs in this case – Leslie Kaup, Jeremy Corey-Gruenes, Jim Margadant, and Daphne Hamborg – are taxpayers in Freeborn County, and they are suing to challenge the unlawful expenditures of their tax money.