As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement prepares to enter its eighth week conducting deportations through Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, Minn., immigrants have been sheltering at home andother residents are frightened, according to The New York Times.
The continued presence of ICE over the past weeks have pushed immigrant communities to begin relying on church-run efforts to get groceries delivered. Minnesotan police officials expressed opposition to ICE in a news conference on Tuesday, describing an escalating operation that is undermining local law enforcement and heightening fear, according to the New York Times.
Minnesotans hoping for the tension in the Twin Cities to decrease could be waiting even longer than expected, as the Minnesota Star Tribune reported that Operation Metro Surge has no end-date. PresidentTrump has walked backed threats to use the Insurrection Act to bring in the National Guard to gain control of civil unrest in Minnesota, according to The New York Times.
ICE operations are also expanding in New England, with The Boston Globe reporting that ICE began a “Catch of the Day” Operation in Maine on Tuesday.
Operation Metro Surge began in Minneapolis, Minn., on Dec. 1, 2025, with the goal of having ICE agents arrest illegal immigrants in the city, according to a press release by the Department of Homeland Security. The operation continued on a smaller scale for about a month until Jan. 6, 2026, when 2,000 ICE agents were added to Operation Metro Surge, according to Fox9.
“We have a ridiculous surge of apparently 2,000 people — not coordinating with us — that are for a show for the cameras,” Gov. Tim Walz said during a press conference on Fox9.
The influx of ICE agents came on the heels of a viral video by YouTuber and independent journalist Nick Shirley documenting alleged fraud at childcare centers operated by the Minnesotan Somali community. Jim O’Neill, the deputy secretary of Health and Human Services, froze all childcare payments to the state of Minnesota after the video, according to The New York Times.
One day after the increased presence of ICE officers in Minnesota, ICE agent Jonathon Ross shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, 37-year-old mother, when approaching her because her Honda Pilot partially blocked ICE between Portland Avenue and 34th Street in Minneapolis, Minn.
Good’s death sparked widespread outrage against ICE and protests across Minnesota and the country. A police investigation is underway in Connecticut after a protestor at a Hartford vigil for Good was knocked down by a federal vehicle on Jan. 8, according to Connecticut Mirror.
The Justice Department arrested two protestors in Minnesota and tried to bring charges against independent reporter Don Lemon for interrupting a church service, according to the New York Times. Even though chants included Good’s name, it was not organized for her specifically and was instead a call for the resignation of a pastor at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn, according to Newsweek. One of the eight pastors of the church, David Easterwood, is suspected by protest groups to be an ICE official after his name was listed in a lawsuit challenging ICE.