Trump administration escalates attack on Minnesota with more immigration agents | Trump administration
Trump administration sends more immigration agents to Minnesota; This includes increased attacks and rhetoric against the state and its immigrant populations, which immigration officials say is the agency’s “largest operation to date.”
“100% chance of ice in the Twin Cities – our largest operation to date,” said the official Immigration and Customs Enforcement account on X wrote Tuesday afternoon. “If you are an illegal felon and/or involved in fraud, expect ICE to visit you.”
Department of Homeland Security approved “A call is being made to Minneapolis to root out fraud, arrest perpetrators, and eliminate illegal criminals,” according to X. Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons told Newsmax the agency conducted the “largest immigration operation ever conducted” in the city.
CBS News reported On Monday, he announced that the administration would bring 2,000 more agents from both ICE and homeland security investigations to the state for 30 days. Lyons did not confirm the number of agents but said it was an effort by both ICE and HSI. DHS did not confirm the number to the Guardian but said the agency was “increasing law enforcement.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is in the state. It can somehow be seen video DHS was notified of the arrest in Minneapolis of an Ecuadorian man said to be wanted for murder in his home country.
Operation Metro Surge, the name given by the agency to its crackdown on Minnesota, has been ongoing since early December. While some immigrants stayed away from public life, avoiding grocery stores or medical care for fear of being caught, community members fought back against ICE, protesting and blocking deportations.
This obsession with Minnesota comes as the state is grappling with several high-profile cases of alleged social services fraud that caught Trump’s attention and led him to make xenophobic comments about Somalis. Minnesota is home to the largest Somali population in the United States, and most Somalis in the state are U.S. citizens.
Lyons said officers are “going door to door” to companies suspected of hiring undocumented people. He also said some agents would “look into these fraud cases.” He said Noem “ran a great, successful operation” in Minneapolis, adding that agents were fighting sanctuary policies in places like Minnesota.
At a news conference Tuesday, Tim Walz called the increase “ridiculous” and “part of the war on Minnesota.”
“I don’t think any government in history has had to fight every day against the federal government,” the state governor said. “We are under attack like no other time in our state’s history from a petty, despicable administration that does not care about the well-being of Minnesotans.”
