MINNEAPOLIS — More than 2,000 federal officers are carrying out Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s largest immigration enforcement action yet, in and around Minneapolis and St. Paul, producing daily confrontations between agents and protesters that have become routine since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old American citizen and mother of three, on Jan. 7.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, said his city — with roughly 600 police officers — has been overwhelmed by the federal deployment. “We don’t use the word ‘invasion’ lightly,” Frey told reporters. “What we are seeing is thousands — plural, thousands — of federal agents coming into our city.”
The surge has shuttered businesses in immigrant neighborhoods, kept children home from school, and produced nightly scenes of tear gas and flash grenades as federal officers disperse crowds gathered outside a compound near Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport that houses an immigration court and government offices.
Operation Metro Surge has crystallized a standoff between city and state officials and the federal government over immigration enforcement authority, while the broader Twin Cities metro area — home to more than 3 million people — contends with disruptions that echo, for many residents, the city’s traumatic reckoning with the 2020 police killing of George Floyd.
MINNEAPOLIS — Work begins around sunrise for federal immigration officers carrying out Operation Metro Surge in and around the Twin Cities, as hundreds of agents in tactical gear file out of a compound near Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport into unmarked convoys of SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans.
Protesters arrive early, too, braving the cold to stand across the street from the fenced-in facility — which houses an immigration court and government offices — and shout at the convoys as they roar past. “Go home!” they call. “ICE out!” By nightfall, when the convoys return, those confrontations often grow more intense. Federal officers fire tear gas and flash grenades before hauling away protesters. The cycle repeats daily.
This is the routine that Operation Metro Surge has established in and around the Twin Cities since the Trump administration launched what officials have described as their largest immigration enforcement action yet, with more than 2,000 officers taking part — and since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman on Jan. 7.
The death of Renee Good
Renee Good, a 37-year-old American citizen and mother of three, was shot and killed by an ICE officer during an enforcement operation on Jan. 7. Good had stopped to help neighbors when the confrontation occurred, according to the Associated Press. Federal officials say the officer fired in self-defense after Good “weaponized” her vehicle. City and state officials have disputed that account and pointed to multiple bystander videos of the confrontation.
Good was killed just blocks from where George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer nearly six years ago, a proximity that has compounded the impact on residents already living with that history.
“Enough is enough,” said Johan Baumeister, who came to the scene of Good’s death soon after the shooting to lay flowers. He said he did not want to see a repeat of the violent protests that followed Floyd’s death — protests that caused billions of dollars in damage. But he was not surprised more demonstrations followed.
“I think they’ll see Minneapolis show our rage again,” Baumeister said.
He was right. Repeated confrontations between activists and immigration officers have occurred since Good’s death. Most have involved shouted insults and limited property damage — broken windows, graffiti, damaged federal vehicles. But federal officers have also broken car windows, pepper-sprayed protesters and warned observers not to follow their convoys through the streets. Immigrants and citizens have been detained from cars and homes, sometimes for days. Most confrontations end with tear gas.
A city and a federal force in collision
Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, noted the numerical asymmetry. Minneapolis has roughly 600 police officers. Operation Metro Surge has deployed more than 2,000 federal agents into a city that takes about 15 minutes to drive across.
“We don’t use the word ‘invasion’ lightly,” Frey told reporters. “What we are seeing is thousands — plural, thousands — of federal agents coming into our city.”
The surge operates unevenly across the metro area of more than 3 million people. In wealthier, whiter neighborhoods and suburbs, the presence of unmarked convoys and tear gas is rare. But in immigrant-dense corridors, masked officers move with speed, making arrests and departing before protesters can assemble in force.
The effects are visible along Lake Street, an immigrant business hub that has served newcomers since Norwegian and Swedish arrivals in an earlier century. At La Michoacana Purepecha, where customers can order ice cream, chocolate-covered bananas and pork rinds, the door is now locked and staff let in people one at a time. A sign at nearby Taqueria Los Ocampo, in English and Spanish, says the restaurant is temporarily closed because of “current conditions.” At the Karmel Mall, a destination for the city’s large Somali community, signs on the doors warn: “No ICE enter without court order.”
Children are skipping school or learning remotely. Families are avoiding religious services. Residents have organized watch networks to alert immigrant parents when convoys approach schools during pickup time.
Community response
Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, urged residents to channel anger into community action rather than confrontation. “It might be shoveling your neighbor’s walk,” Walz said. “It might mean being at a food bank. It might be pausing to talk to someone you haven’t talked to before.”
Both he and other leaders have warned that the White House was looking for a pretext to escalate further.
In the basement of a Lutheran church in St. Paul, the group Open Market MN assembled food packs for more than 100 families too frightened to leave their homes. Colin Anderson, the group’s outreach director, said requests had surged. Residents have handed out bottled water to protesters flushing tear gas from their eyes. Others have arranged rides to work and doctor’s appointments for neighbors afraid to go out, and have organized care packages for families staying in.
Christian Molina, a driver from suburban Coon Rapids, described being followed by immigration officers while driving his car to a mechanic through a Minneapolis neighborhood. He said he believes he was targeted because he looks Hispanic. The officers activated a siren, but Molina kept driving — unsure who was behind him. Eventually they sped up and struck his rear bumper. Two officers emerged and demanded his papers. Molina refused, saying he would wait for police. As crowds gathered, a clash broke out that ended in tear gas. The officers left.
They left behind a man with a mangled rear fender. Long after the officers were gone, Molina had one question, according to the AP: “Who’s going to pay for my car?”