Newly disclosed government records reveal that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) launched an extensive surveillance operation against leftwing organisations and activists opposing immigration enforcement raids in Minnesota earlier this year, raising serious civil liberties concerns about the criminalisation of lawful protest.

The records — nearly 30 internal law enforcement reports released as part of a Department of Justice (DoJ) criminal case against 15 Minneapolis protesters — show that in January, DHS launched an inquiry called