Homeland Security Launches Unprecedented Immigration Enforcement in Minnesota

The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday it has deployed approximately 2,000 federal agents and officers to the Minneapolis area in what it describes as the largest immigration enforcement operation in the agency’s history. The massive surge targets allegations of fraud involving Somali residents and has dramatically expanded federal law enforcement presence in Minnesota.

“The largest DHS operation ever is happening right now in Minnesota,” the department declared in a post on X, signaling a significant escalation of federal immigration enforcement activities in the state.

Immigrant rights groups and local officials reported a sharp increase in federal agent sightings throughout the Twin Cities on Tuesday, particularly in St. Paul. Numerous federal vehicles were observed conducting traffic stops and stationed outside businesses and apartment buildings across the metropolitan area.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem personally participated in the operation, accompanying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers during at least one arrest. Video footage posted on social media showed Noem wearing tactical gear while telling a handcuffed man, “You will be held accountable for your crimes.” DHS later identified the individual as an Ecuadorian national wanted on murder and sexual assault charges in both Ecuador and Connecticut.

The agency reported that agents arrested 150 people on Monday alone in Minneapolis as part of the enforcement action, signaling the significant scale of the operation.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz condemned the federal surge, describing it as “a war that’s being waged against Minnesota.”

“You’re seeing that we have a ridiculous surge of apparently 2,000 people not coordinating with us, that are for a show of cameras,” Walz told reporters in Minneapolis on Tuesday, just one day after announcing he would not seek a third term as governor.

The operation has intensified concerns among Minnesota’s Somali community, which is the largest in the United States and has been repeatedly singled out by the Trump administration. Last month, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara criticized federal agents for using “questionable methods” following a confrontation between agents and protesters.

St. Paul City Council member Molly Coleman, whose district includes a manufacturing plant where agents arrested more than a dozen people in November, described Tuesday’s activities as “unlike any other day we’ve experienced.”

“It’s incredibly distressing,” Coleman said. “What we know happens when ICE comes into a city, it’s an enforcement in which every single person is on guard and afraid.”

According to sources familiar with the operation, approximately three-quarters of the enforcement personnel come from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, which handles immigration arrests and deportations. The remaining force consists of agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), ICE’s investigative arm that typically focuses on fraud and cross-border criminal networks.

HSI agents have been going door-to-door throughout the Twin Cities investigating allegations of fraud, human smuggling, and unlawful employment practices. The operation also includes specialized tactical units and personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including Commander Gregory Bovino, whose tactics during previous operations in other cities have drawn scrutiny from local officials and civil rights advocates.

The massive enforcement action has created ripple effects throughout the community. Hilton announced Tuesday it was removing a Minnesota hotel from its systems for “not meeting our standards and values” after the Hampton Inn Lakeville, located about 20 miles outside Minneapolis, canceled reservations for federal agents. The hotel later apologized and stated it would work to accommodate the agents.

Federal authorities began intensifying immigration arrests in the Minneapolis area in late 2023. Secretary Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel announced last week that federal agencies were ramping up operations in Minnesota, with particular emphasis on fraud investigations.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly connected his administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota to fraud cases involving federal nutrition and pandemic aid programs, many of which have involved defendants with Somali backgrounds.

The current operation’s scope and duration may shift in the coming days as it develops, according to sources familiar with the planning. The unprecedented scale of the deployment reflects the administration’s intensified focus on immigration enforcement and fraud investigations in communities with significant immigrant populations.