The Department of Homeland Security is sending 2,000 federal agents to the Minneapolis area in what it’s calling the “largest immigration enforcement operation ever”—a massive show of force targeting the nation’s largest Somali community amid allegations of fraud.
“The largest DHS operation ever is happening right now in Minnesota,” the department announced on X, dramatically escalating what began as increased enforcement activity late last year.
WHAT’S GOING ON: According to the Associated Press, about three-quarters of the personnel are from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, the deportation arm.
The rest are Homeland Security Investigations agents focused on fraud cases. Specialized tactical units are also involved.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem herself showed up in a tactical vest and knit cap to make an arrest, posting video to X. “You will be held accountable for your crimes,” she told the handcuffed man—who DHS claims is from Ecuador and wanted on murder and sexual assault charges in his home country and Connecticut.
HSI agents have been going door-to-door investigating alleged fraud, human smuggling, and unlawful employment practices. The department says agents arrested 150 people Monday.
Immigrant rights groups report a sharp increase in federal agents’ vehicles making traffic stops and congregating outside businesses and apartment buildings.
THE POLITICS: President Trump has repeatedly linked his administration’s Minnesota crackdown to fraud cases involving federal nutrition and pandemic aid programs—many of which involved defendants with Somali roots.
The administration has explicitly singled out the Somali community, already putting residents on edge before this surge.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz blasted the operation 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, one day after announcing he wouldn’t seek a third term.
BUT BUT BUT: City officials and advocates say the operation is terrorizing entire communities.
Molly Coleman, a St. Paul City Council member whose district saw agents arrest more than a dozen people at a manufacturing plant in November, called Tuesday “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.”
Meanwhile, Hilton dropped a Minnesota hotel from its system after it canceled federal agents’ reservations—for “not meeting our standards and values,” the company said. The Hampton Inn Lakeville had apologized and offered to accommodate agents, but Hilton cut ties anyway.
WHY IT MATTERS: This isn’t just immigration enforcement—it’s a political spectacle designed to send a message. The administration is flooding a blue state with thousands of armed federal agents, explicitly targeting a Muslim refugee community Trump has demonized, while the DHS Secretary personally films arrests for social media.
The scope and duration could shift in coming days. But for now, entire neighborhoods are living in fear while the government puts on a show.