Journalists in Minneapolis Strained as Federal Crackdown Continues

In the midst of a sustained federal immigration crackdown, Minneapolis journalists are navigating unprecedented challenges that have transformed their city and tested their newsrooms in ways distinct from previous crises.

“We’ve had political assassinations. We had a multi-fatality school shooting, and now the largest immigration crackdown in American history has all happened in Minneapolis in the last eight months,” said Liz Sawyer, a reporter at The Minnesota Star Tribune. “People are generally exhausted and overwhelmed both in the newsroom and in the community.”

The federal government launched “Operation Metro Surge” in early December, targeting Somali immigrants in the Twin Cities. The operation came after President Donald Trump referred to the Somali community as “garbage” and stated he does not want them in the country. Minnesota is home to over 80,000 Somali immigrants, most with legal status or U.S. citizenship.

What began as an expected deployment of about 100 federal agents has swelled to a reported 3,000 officers in the Twin Cities region, creating what Andrew Hazzard of Sahan Journal describes as an occupation.

“The scale of this presence of federal agents in Minneapolis and the Twin Cities is so insanely disproportionate to the size of our community in general, the size of our immigrant communities in particular,” Hazzard said. “We’re not Chicago or Houston or certainly not New York or LA. We’re not some massive, massive city.”

The situation has escalated dramatically with two fatal shootings by federal agents. ICU nurse Alex Pretti was killed after attempting to help a woman pushed to the ground by agents. In a separate incident, Renee Macklin Good, a mother and poet, was also shot and killed.

The sustained nature of this crisis differs markedly from the protests following George Floyd’s murder in 2020, which saw intense but relatively brief periods of unrest. While the Floyd protests represented Minneapolis confronting its history of racial inequity and policing, the current situation involves federal forces operating largely outside local control.

“What’s different about this — it has that same sort of sense of righteous rage — but it feels much more like an occupation currently,” Hazzard observed.

Local newsrooms have adapted their operations in response. The Star Tribune and Sahan Journal have invested in protective equipment like gas masks and eye protection for reporters. Journalists partner with colleagues in the field for safety, applying lessons learned during the 2020 protests.

The immigration enforcement operation has permeated every aspect of community life, requiring comprehensive coverage across all beats. At Minnesota Public Radio, Matt Sepic reports it’s “all hands on deck,” with education and health reporters covering how ICE activities impact their sectors. The Star Tribune has similarly mobilized reporters from across the newsroom to address the wide-ranging effects on business, tourism, and public safety.

Joey Peters, a politics reporter for Sahan Journal, which focuses on immigrant communities, described the heightened state of alert: “Day to day, we’re on alert that breaking news can happen. We expect breaking news to happen any day, multiple times a day.”

A particularly troubling development is what journalists describe as unprecedented levels of misinformation and disinformation, including from official government sources.

“What we’re dealing with now is just an onslaught of lies and disinformation,” said Sepic. “The highest levels of the United States government were engaging in a disinformation campaign to smear them as domestic terrorists. And as journalists that’s not something that we’re used to having to deal with.”

The proliferation of AI-generated and manipulated media presents additional verification challenges not present during previous crises. Sawyer explained that the Star Tribune has implemented rigorous verification procedures, including tracking down original videographers, metadata analysis, and multiple editorial reviews before publishing footage.

“We’re not just going to strip something from the internet that’s posted by some anonymous name and publish that,” Sawyer emphasized.

The situation has forced journalists to reconsider their approach to reporting on government statements. As Sepic put it: “I think the biggest lesson now — and too many news organizations have been pulling punches for too long as we’ve seen this rising tide of authoritarianism in this country — is we can’t be afraid to say that the government is lying when the government is lying, because that’s the whole point of the First Amendment.”

As federal operations continue, Minneapolis journalists remain committed to providing accurate information while navigating complex safety concerns and maintaining community trust in an environment where daily life continues unevenly under extreme pressure.