A federal judge in Minnesota, who has donated to an immigrant legal aid group, quashed several federal grand jury subpoenas of documents from Gov. Tim Walz and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul over compliance with immigration enforcement. In a 29-page opinion issued Monday, Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz of the District of Minnesota accused the Trump administration’s Justice Department of seeking to “harass political opponents” by initiating a criminal investigation and using grand jury subpoenas to pressure state and local officials into changing their immigration policies. The judge has acknowledged being a donor for “many years” to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, an organization that provides free legal representation to low-income immigrants and refugees. Schiltz has also clashed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the agency’s alleged violation of court orders. The grand jury subpoenas sought records related to federal immigration enforcement, including communications regarding cooperation or noncooperation with ICE and other federal immigration authorities; requests for assistance from immigration officials; communications among state and local officials concerning immigration enforcement; and training or guidance provided to employees regarding interactions with ICE. The subpoenas were issued to the offices of Walz, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, as well as the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners and the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners. “Initiating a criminal investigation in order to harass political opponents or to coerce them into taking official action — particularly official action that the federal government cannot directly require those political opponents to take — is a blatantly unlawful and unethical use of the grand jury process,” Schiltz wrote. “The only question, then, is whether the challenged subpoenas were issued for one of these forbidden purposes,” he continued. “The court has no doubt that they were.” In January, Fox News first reported that Schiltz donated to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota in 2019, citing the organization’s annual report. In a statement to Fox News, Schiltz said he has “donated for many years to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.” “I have also donated for many years to Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid,” he added. “I believe that poor people should be able to get legal representation.” Schiltz was appointed by President George W. Bush and previously clerked for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. In January, Schiltz ordered Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons to appear in court to explain why the agency had failed to comply with court orders and caused what the judge described as significant hardship for immigrants in the state. “The practical consequence of respondents’ failure to comply has almost always been significant hardship to aliens (many of whom have lawfully lived and worked in the United States for years and done absolutely nothing wrong),” Schiltz wrote. The following month, Schiltz issued another warning to the Justice Department and ICE, writing: “This Court will continue to do whatever is required to protect the rule of law, including, if necessary, moving to the use of criminal contempt. One way or another, ICE will comply with this Court’s orders.”