ICE Launching Its Biggest Operation Ever in Minneapolis

The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that it launched what it described as the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out by the agency—with 2,000 federal agents and officers expected in the Minneapolis area for a crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents, the AP reports. "The largest DHS operation ever is happening right now in Minnesota," the department said in a post on X, dramatically expanding the federal law enforcement footprint in the state amid heightened political and community tensions. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, criticized the federal enforcement surge as "a war that's being waged against Minnesota."

The government planned to send about 2,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and officers to Minnesota, according to a US official and a person briefed on the matter. The agents are expected to be dispatched in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, the person said. Immigrant rights groups and elected officials in the Twin Cities reported a sharp increase Tuesday in sightings of federal agents, notably around St. Paul. Numerous agents' vehicles were reported making traffic stops, outside area businesses and apartment buildings. The operation also includes personnel from US Customs and Border Protection, including Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, the person familiar with the deployment said. Bovino's tactics during previous federal operations in other cities have drawn scrutiny from local officials and civil rights advocates.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was also present and accompanied US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during at least one arrest. A video posted on X showed Noem wearing a tactical vest and knit cap as agents arrested a man in St. Paul. In the video, she tells the handcuffed man: "You will be held accountable for your crimes." DHS said in a news release that the man was from Ecuador and was wanted in his homeland and Connecticut on charges including murder and sexual assault. It said agents arrested 150 people Monday in enforcement actions in Minneapolis.