ICE made over 4,000 arrests in Minnesota, but backlash forced a major retreat

The massive 10-week immigration enforcement surge in the Twin Cities, known as Operation Metro Surge, has come to an end. As detailed by Axios, White House border czar Tom Homan announced Thursday morning that the Trump administration is concluding the effort, with a significant drawdown of the roughly 2,000 remaining federal agents underway and expected to wrap up over the next week.

Homan said officers deployed to Minnesota will return to their home stations or be reassigned elsewhere. While the surge is ending, he emphasized that local immigration enforcement will continue and said the operation achieved “successful results we have come here for,” citing more than 4,000 arrests.

At a news conference, Homan also claimed the operation secured “unprecedented cooperation” from local law enforcement partners. He said the Twin Cities and Minnesota overall “are and will continue to be much safer for the communities here because of what we have accomplished.”

The political fallout overshadowed the operation’s arrest numbers

The administration initially deployed thousands of agents over two months, saying they were targeting alleged fraud within government programs involving residents of Somali descent. The effort quickly drew public and congressional backlash.

Videos and reports circulated alleging civil rights violations, racial profiling, and aggressive conduct by federal agents. The situation escalated when two ICE Watch observers, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were fatally shot during encounters with agents, a flashpoint that has driven broader attention to two deadly ICE incidents. By late January, political pressure intensified as President Trump’s poll numbers declined, prompting Homan to travel to the state to meet with local officials and begin planning the withdrawal.

Homan said he secured commitments from local agencies to transfer undocumented inmates into federal custody within jails and to help federal personnel address agitator activity that he said impeded operations. Local authorities disputed that characterization.

The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office said its policies remain unchanged and that it does not conduct civil immigration enforcement. Governor Tim Walz said the state’s position on detainer requests has not changed and suggested federal officials were attempting to manage the optics of the withdrawal.

Critics have also pointed to the presence of agents near courthouses, schools and bus stops, as well as a pursuit involving federal agents that resulted in a multi-car crash near a busy pedestrian intersection in St. Paul on Wednesday. Separately, T-Mobile’s live translation was announced this week.

Homan said a smaller group of personnel will remain briefly to manage the transition, and that Minnesota-based federal agents will deploy across the state to allow jails to transfer inmates without holding them past scheduled release dates.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the operation has been catastrophic for neighbors and businesses and that recovery will require significant effort from the community.