Sheriff Presents Evidence to Refute Immigration Official’s Claims

Minnesota Corrections Chief Accuses DHS of Falsifying Immigration Enforcement Data

A senior Minnesota corrections official has publicly accused the Department of Homeland Security of manipulating arrest data and inflating numbers to exaggerate the success of its immigration crackdown in the state.

Minnesota Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell held a press conference Thursday in St. Paul, presenting evidence of what he described as “pure propaganda” being disseminated by top officials in the Trump administration’s DHS, led by Secretary Kristi Noem.

“This is no longer a simple misunderstanding,” Schnell told reporters. “At best, DHS fundamentally misunderstands Minnesota’s correctional system. At a minimum, this reflects systemic data management inadequacies or incompetence. At worst, it is pure propaganda, numbers released without evidence to stoke fear rather than inform the public.”

The dispute centers on DHS claims regarding its “Operation Metro Surge,” an immigration enforcement initiative that has faced growing criticism in Minnesota. Federal officials have repeatedly portrayed the operation as necessary to address what they characterize as Democratic leadership’s failure to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Noem’s department has claimed that nearly 470 “criminal illegal aliens” have been released in Minnesota and accused local authorities of refusing to honor ICE detainer requests for more than 1,360 individuals in state custody.

Schnell directly contradicted these figures, saying they are “categorically false.” According to a survey of corrections facilities conducted by his department, there are approximately 94 people with ICE detainers in county jails and 207 in state prisons—roughly 300 in total, about 1,000 fewer than DHS has claimed.

The commissioner also highlighted specific misleading statements in DHS press releases. He pointed to a January 12 announcement in which federal officials boasted about apprehending two men—identified as Meng Khong Yang and Joshua Fornoh—allegedly taken “off the street” the previous day as part of Operation Metro Surge.

Schnell presented security footage showing these individuals had actually been transferred directly from a Minnesota prison to ICE custody—contradicting the impression that they had been at large in the community.

More troubling, according to Schnell, some individuals listed on DHS’s “worst of the worst” rosters were transferred to ICE years ago, with some cases dating back to the 1990s. Others reportedly had no criminal record in Minnesota or only brief stays in local jails. In some instances, people handed over to ICE by Minnesota authorities were later released back into communities by federal agents themselves.

“We have not found a single case where Minnesota prisons failed to honor an ICE detainer when a noncitizen left state custody,” Schnell emphasized. He noted that state law requires prison officials to notify ICE when a noncitizen enters prison and to coordinate transfers upon release—procedures he insists his agency follows diligently.

The controversy unfolds as Operation Metro Surge faces mounting legal challenges. The ACLU of Minnesota and various civil rights organizations have filed lawsuits seeking to halt what they characterize as “suspicionless stops, warrantless arrests, and racial profiling” by ICE and Border Patrol across the Twin Cities region.

The operation has also drawn national scrutiny following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old mother Renée Nicole Good on January 7 by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, an incident that sparked widespread protests and a separate lawsuit against DHS.

Despite the growing criticism, DHS has doubled down on its messaging about Minnesota, portraying Noem’s leadership as uniquely willing to remove dangerous offenders from communities. Schnell said such rhetoric “undermines trust and disrespects the dedicated professionals who work every day to keep Minnesotans safe.”

He emphasized that the misleading information appears to originate from “higher levels” within Homeland Security. When contacted for comment, a DHS spokesperson continued to cite the same figures Schnell had identified as inflated, calling on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and other “sanctuary politicians” to honor all ICE detainers.

The dispute highlights growing tensions between federal immigration enforcement initiatives and state corrections systems as immigration remains a central issue in national politics.