Summary
Operation Metro Surge launched in December 2025 as part of a larger immigration enforcement initiative, which targeted primarily progressive cities with significant immigrant populations. Prior to Minneapolis, the Trump Administration had increased the presence of federal agents in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, New Orleans, and Phoenix, among others. Operation Metro Surge marked a peak in such efforts and by its end was the largest immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history.
Funded through massive increases in congressional allocations, the federal government expanded hiring of ICE agents then deployed nearly 4,000 heavily militarized agents first to Minneapolis and St. Paul and then to the rest of Minnesota. The operation severely disrupted the everyday lives of all Minneapolis residents to produce the arrests of 3,000 individuals including U.S. citizens, refugees, individuals with protected status, legal immigrants, and unauthorized immigrants, but also the death of two American citizens – Renée Macklin Good and Alex Pretti, and millions of dollars in economic damage. The operation also resulted in uncounted family separations, psychological and physical trauma, and forced many immigrants, naturalized citizens, and citizens of color to shelter in their homes, staying away from workplaces, their children’s schools, and community activities.
In its intensification of enforcement efforts, Operation Metro Surge deployed warrantless searches, regular due process violations, random police stops profiling persons of color, and violence and intimidation against immigrants and citizens alike. The operation drew high levels of backlash from local residents, who demonstrated en masse despite frigid temperatures to act as witnesses to and disrupters of ICE agent activities. Local residents also reactivated and expanded networks of decentralized grassroots mutual aid efforts that had first emerged after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. These networks continued functioning after Operation Metro Surge officially ended in February 2026.
Source
Department of Homeland Security Press Release for Operation Metro Surge:
ICE Arrests Worst of the Worst Criminal Illegal Aliens During Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis Including Pedophiles, Domestic Abusers, and Gang Members
Release Date: December 4, 2025
In just days, ICE has arrested vicious criminals who were allowed to roam Minneapolis streets thanks to sanctuary policies
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced they have arrested some of the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens, including child sex offenders, domestic abusers, and violent gang members, during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“Sanctuary policies and politicians like Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey allowed these pedophiles, domestic terrorists, and gang members to roam the streets and terrorize Americans,” said Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “ICE law enforcement are risking their lives to protect Minnesotans while their own elected officials sit by and do nothing. No matter when and where, ICE will find, arrest, and deport ALL criminal illegal aliens.”
Graph Showing ICE Arrests in MN based on criminal status of arrested individuals based on data from Deportation Data Project:
