WATCH: Border Patrol and ICE leaders defend tactics used in Minneapolis operations

Top immigration officials praised the arrests they made in Minnesota and defended the tactics used by Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a news conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

Watch the press conference in the video player above.

“Over the course of this administration, over 10,000 criminal illegal aliens have been apprehended, as I said, here in Minneapolis over the last year,” said Greg Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official. “And just in the last six weeks, the last six weeks alone, during this current surge, there have been 3,000 arrests of some of the most dangerous criminals operating in Minneapolis.”

Read more: US citizen says Immigration and Customs Enforcement forced open the door of his Minnesota home and took him out in his underwear after a warrantless search.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers used aggressive tactics during the recent crackdown, including breaking down the door of a family’s home without a warrant and pulling people from vehicles.

Bovino said the immigration officers’ tactics were “born out of necessity” and “grounded in good legal foundations.”

“Everything we do is legal, ethical and moral,” he said.

Julia Decker, policy director at the Minnesota Immigrant Law Center, expressed frustration that advocates have no way of knowing whether the arrest numbers released by the government and descriptions of people in detention are accurate.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors served grand jury subpoenas Tuesday for Minnesota officials as part of an investigation into whether they obstructed or obstructed law enforcement during a sweeping immigration operation in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, said a person familiar with the matter.

The subpoenas, seeking the records, were sent to the offices of Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, St. Paul Mayor Kawley Hare, and officials in Ramsey and Hennepin counties, the person said.

The person was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The subpoenas relate to the investigation into whether Minnesota officials obstructed enforcement of federal immigration laws through public statements they made, two people familiar with the matter said Friday. They then said the matter focused on a possible violation of the conspiracy statute.

Walz and Frey, both Democrats, called the investigation a bullying tactic aimed at suppressing political dissent. Frey’s office issued a subpoena, which requires a long list of documents, to the grand jury on February 3, including “any records tending to show a refusal to provide assistance to immigration officials.”

The Justice Department called the state’s lawsuit filed shortly after Renee Judd was shot to death by an immigration officer “legally frivolous.”

Judd, 37, was killed on January 7 as she moved her car, which was blocking a Minneapolis street where ICE officers were working. Trump administration officials say the officer, Jonathan Ross, shot her in self-defense, though videos of the interview show the Honda Pilot slowly pulling away from him.

Since then, members of the public have repeatedly confronted officers, blowing whistles and directing insults at Immigration, Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. They, in turn, used tear gas and irritating chemicals against the demonstrators. Bystanders recorded video of officers using a battering ram to enter a home, as well as smashing vehicle windows and pulling people from cars.