Top fraud cases in Minnesota take a back seat to Trump's 'crushing immigration workload'
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A prosecutor was dismissed in Minnesota after complaining that they would be happy to be held in contempt by the judge because they desperately needed sleep. Now it appears the rest of the office is following that lead.
Politico legal reporter Kyle Cheney wrote on Thursday that the top prosecutor appointed by President Donald Trump in the Minnesota district is dropping "pressing priorities" to manage the huge number of cases. Cheney said on X that it's "a crushing immigration workload."
In a "little-noticed filing" last week, Cheney said the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals said it is being crushed by the number of cases filed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said that they must make serious changes to triage the situation.
Trump sent a surge of 3,000 federal agents to Minneapolis to nab people it claimed were undocumented immigrants.
The office is already short-staffed after several high-profile resignations. Now the lawyers working in the office are "bouncing between contempt hearings."
There have been 427 habeas cases on top of the "100+ cases filed in the second half of 2025," the report said
The office thus shifted resources from other priorities to address immigration matters.
"The MN-USAO has cancelled all ACE work and any other affirmative priorities and is operating in reactive mode. AUSAs are appearing daily for hearings on contempt motions. The Court is setting deadlines within hours, including weekends and holidays. Paralegals are continuously working overtime. Lawyers are continuously working overtime. All this is happening while the MN-USAO Civil division is down 50 percent," Cheney said.
Trump spent the first part of his new administration firing staff in an effort to shrink the size of government. Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller set a quote of 3,000 immigrants the country must nab and detain each day.
Rosen's office is also overseeing a critical case involving a daycare facility scandal that Trump and his Justice Department highlighted as part of their crime-fighting fcorce. While the investigation had been going on for most on President Joe Biden's time in office. It's unclear if that is an example of one of the cases that must take a back seat to Trump's immigration crusade.