Faith leaders barred from the Whipple Federal Building join lawsuit to defend their rights under the First Amendment and Religious Freedom Restoration Act

(MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.) —Today, Groundwork Legal and Saul Ewing filed a lawsuit against the federal government, including the Department of Homeland Security, for unlawfully barring faith leaders from providing pastoral care to Minnesotans detained at the Whipple Federal Building. The lawsuit asserts that ICE’s ongoing refusal to allow faith leaders to meet with Minnesotans detained at the Whipple Federal Building violates the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and requests that the court grant immediate relief so faith leaders can provide pastoral care to detainees.

Groundwork Legal and Saul Ewing are representing the Minneapolis Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ (UCC), and Father Christopher Collins, SJ, a Jesuit priest.

Faith leaders have attempted to provide pastoral care to individuals detained at the Whipple Federal Building since the beginning of Operation Metro Surge.

The ELCA and UCC represent congregations and clergy across Minnesota whose faith compels them to minister to those who are detained, imprisoned, and torn from their families. The federal government has consistently denied faith leaders the ability to provide pastoral care to detainees, including just a few days ago on the Christian holy day of Ash Wednesday. 

“Constitutional rights do not disappear at the doors of the Whipple,” said Irina Vaynerman, CEO of Groundwork Legal. “The way we treat those in detention or facing deportation is one of the true litmus tests of our democracy. Pastoral care allows for detainees to be treated with humanity, instead of being treated like inventory.” 

“Denying faith leaders access to detainees is not only a violation of law, it is a denial of dignity to those whose rights are most at stake,” added Chelsea Walcker, Chief Legal Officer of Groundwork Legal, “We are committed to defending these rights and ensuring that pastoral care is available to all who need it.” 

“Pastoral care is the heart and soul of what our Pastors and Deacons are called to provide in their congregations and around the community. We walk together, listening, praying, guiding, and offering the peace and presence of Jesus Christ,” said Bishop Jen Nagel of the Minneapolis Area Synod of the ELCA. “This is particularly important during times of stress, grief, isolation, and transition.”

The United States has a long history of allowing faith leaders to provide pastoral care inside of prisons, jails, and holding facilities. The right of clergy and faith leaders to provide this type of ministry is enshrined in the First Amendment and federal statutory law. In February, a federal judge ordered ICE to allow faith leaders in Illinois to give communion to detained immigrants on Ash Wednesday.

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Groundwork Legal is a Minnesota-based public interest law firm dedicated to advancing justice and democracy through impact litigation and innovative legal work. The firm was co-founded by Irina Vaynerman and Chelsea Walcker in January 2025 to protect civil rights, hold institutions accountable, and improve government systems.

Case materials are available here.

[ST. PAUL, MN] – Governor Tim Walz today announced the appointment of Shireen Gandhi to serve as commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Human Services. 

Gandhi has served as the temporary human services commissioner since February 2025. During that time, she led work to root out Medicaid fraud and strengthen program integrity.  

“Commissioner Gandhi understands that protecting public programs and delivering high-quality care go hand in hand,” said Governor Walz. “Over the past year, she has demonstrated steady, decisive leadership at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, strengthening program integrity, rooting out fraud, and ensuring taxpayer dollars reach the Minnesotans who rely on these services. Shireen brings the experience and accountability needed to safeguard vital services while building a system Minnesotans can trust.” 

Under Gandhi’s leadership, the department set an aggressive course on program integrity, including bringing in a new inspector general. The department expanded the use of data analytics to identify program vulnerabilities, evidence of fraudulent activities and potentially suspicious patterns of billing. Based on the data, Minnesota tightened oversight of high-risk Medicaid businesses – adding fingerprint background studies for owners, requiring an external review of claims before payments are made, instituting a pause on enrolling new businesses for some services and disenrolling inactive providers. By the end of May, state employees will have conducted on-site visits to revalidate more than 5,800 providers across the state. 

“We must protect the human services programs we provide to improve the lives of Minnesotans that have helped our state to be ranked among the best in the country for children and families, older adults, and people with disabilities.” Gandhi said. “As commissioner, I look forward to working with all partners across the human services system to make our state a national model for program integrity.” 

Gandhi’s appointment is effective February 23, 2026. 

About Shireen Gandhi
Gandhi joined the Minnesota Department of Human Services in 2017, bringing more than 20 years of leadership experience in health care to the agency. Prior to her temporary commissioner appointment, Gandhi served as a deputy commissioner overseeing budgeting and financial operations, agency operations strategy, and other agency operations. Since 2022, Gandhi has served on the Technology Advisory Council, which advises the commissioner of Minnesota IT Services.

Gandhi earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of Minnesota and a law degree from Hamline University School of Law. She is active in the Minnesota State Bar Association and a past chair of its Health Law Section. She is also a member of the Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association. 

About the Minnesota Department of Human Services
Minnesota Department of Human Services’ mission is driven by collaboration with community and partners – counties, Tribes, and nonprofits – supporting people to thrive in community and live their healthiest and fullest lives. The department’s vision is that all people in Minnesota have what they need to thrive in community with no disparities. The agency is responsible for providing health care coverage for approximately 1.2 million Minnesotans on Medicaid (also known as Medical Assistance), including services for elders, people with disabilities and behavioral health needs, and those experiencing homelessness. 

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February 17, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) — Today, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison released an open letter on the start of the 2026 legislative session:

To the members of the Minnesota Legislature and the people of Minnesota,

Today, as we open a new legislative session, our hearts are heavy with grief. We come together not only to govern, but to remember and honor the extraordinary life and service of our friend and colleague, Speaker Emeritus Melissa Hortman. The tragic and senseless violence that took her life, along with her husband’s and their family dog’s, has left a wound in the conscience of our state. We mourn her deeply even as we celebrate the legacy she built through a lifetime of service to the people of Minnesota.

I first met Melissa when she was a young legal aid lawyer, long before either of us held elected office. At the time, I was serving as Executive Director of the Legal Rights Center in Minneapolis, and we both worked on behalf of a woman named Stormy Harmon, a Black mother of three whose landlord refused to repair a dangerously failing furnace in her Minneapolis duplex. Forced from her home, Ms. Harmon and her children faced not only homelessness, but racist harassment and threats from the landlord who should have provided them safe housing.

Melissa took that case with the tenacity and heart that defined her entire career. As a housing attorney with Legal Aid, she sued on Ms. Harmon’s behalf and proved that the landlord had engaged in race-based discrimination in violation of Minnesota law. She won what was, at the time, the largest jury award for race-based housing discrimination in Minnesota history: roughly $490,000 in damages for Ms. Harmon and her children. This stunning victory that helped change the trajectory of that family’s life. Before either one of us held public office, Melissa Hortman was already fighting and winning for people who needed a champion. That is who she was at her core.

As a legislator and as Speaker, Melissa brought the same courage, intellect, and compassion to her public service that she brought to her clients. She fought for working people, for clean air and water, for public education, and for fairness and equality in every corner of Minnesota. She listened deeply, led boldly, and never lost sight of the humanity in every issue that came before this body.

In this moment of loss, we can honor Melissa best by continuing her work of building a government that serves the common good. Her early fight for Stormy Harmon’s family reminds us that justice is not abstract; it is about whether a mother and her children can sleep safely in their home, whether the law protects them equally, and whether someone will stand up when their rights are denied. Melissa taught us that empathy is a strength, that courage is contagious, and that justice is a daily act of faith.

On behalf of the Office of the Attorney General, I offer my deepest condolences to her children, her family, her friends, and to all those whose lives she touched. Let her memory be both a comfort and a challenge for all of us to live and lead with the same heart, integrity, and resolve she brought to everything she did, and may her example continue to guide Minnesota forward.

Keith Ellison  

Minnesota Attorney General

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