The Trump administration has sent more immigration agents to Minnesota, part of escalating attacks and rhetoric against the state and its immigrant populations in what immigration officials are saying is the agency’s “largest operation to date”.
“A 100% chance of ICE in the Twin Cities — our largest operation to date,” the official Immigration and Customs Enforcement account on X wrote on Tuesday afternoon. “If you’re a criminal illegal alien and/or you are engaged in fraud, expect a visit from ICE.”
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed on X that it is “surging to Minneapolis to root out fraud, arrest perpetrators and remove criminal illegal aliens”. Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told Newsmax that the agency has in the city “the largest immigration operation ever taking place right now”.
CBS News reported on Monday that the administration would bring another 2,000 agents, both from ICE and homeland security investigations, into the state for 30 days. Lyons didn’t confirm the number of agents, but said it was an effort from both ICE and HSI. DHS wouldn’t confirm a number to the Guardian, but said that the agency has “surged law enforcement”.
Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, is in the state. She can be seen in a video produced by DHS of an arrest in Minneapolis of a man from Ecuador who the agency said is wanted for murder in his home country.
Operation Metro Surge, the agency’s name for its crackdown on Minnesota, has been under way since early December. Community members have fought back against ICE, protesting and impeding deportations, as some immigrants have stayed away from public life, avoiding grocery stores or medical care for fear of apprehension.
The fixation on Minnesota comes as the state grapples with several high-profile cases alleging fraud of social services, which have captured Trump’s attention and led to xenophobic comments from him about Somalis. Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the US, and most Somalis in the state are US citizens.
Lyons said officers have been “going door to door” to companies suspected of hiring undocumented people. He also said some agents would be “looking at these fraud cases”. He said Noem “ran an awesome, successful operation” in Minneapolis, adding that the agents were fighting against sanctuary policies in places like Minnesota.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Tim Walz called the surge “ridiculous” and part of a “war that’s being waged against Minnesota”.
“I don’t think any government in history has had to fight a war against the federal government every single day,” the state’s governor said. “We are under assault like no other time in our state’s history because of a petty, vile administration that doesn’t care about the wellbeing of Minnesotans.”
