‘Operation Metro Surge’ Ending After 4,000+ Arrests
BY MN CRIME STAFF
Operation Metro Surge is reportedly winding down after several weeks of immigration enforcement, thousands of arrests and multiple investigations into federal officers’ actions.
The announcement came Thursday morning during a news conference in which the federal administration’s “border Czar” Tom Homan said a “significant draw-down” is already underway and will continue into next week as officers return to their home duty stations or are re-assigned elsewhere.
Homan said he met with Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and now-former Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, along with police chiefs and sheriffs, describing what he called an “unprecedented level” of coordination focused on public safety. He said the surge operation resulted in arrests of “many criminal aliens,” including “murders, sex offenders, national security threats, gang members and other violent criminals.”
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Homan also addressed claims he said he’s heard about arrests at sensitive locations.
“During the surge operation, ICE has not arrested anybody inside a hospital. We have not arrested anybody inside of a school, an elementary school. We have not arrested anybody inside a church,” Homan said. “However, those locations are not off the table. I said in day one, there’s no sanctuary for a significant public safety threat or national security threat.”
Homan said federal officials believe arrests tied to jail releases are safer than at-large operations and said officers have been strategically positioned across the state to respond quickly when sheriffs notify federal officials of inmate release times.
“We now have the ability to arrest criminal aliens in the safety and security of jails throughout the state at the time they’re being released like we’ve done in other states,” he said. “Arresting a public safety threat in the safety and security of a jail is safer for the alien, is safer for the officer, and safer for the community.”
Homan said federal officials are not asking local agencies to enforce immigration laws.
“I don’t want them to be immigration officers. We’re the immigration officers. We just want them to be cops,” he said.
Changes were made to how enforcement teams operate during the surge, including integrating Border Patrol with ICE teams, creating a unified command structure, strengthening intelligence and targeting operations, deploying body cameras and increasing internal affairs oversight, Homan said.
Homan said federal authorities have arrested more than 200 people for alleged violations of federal law related to assaulting, resisting or interfering with federal officers and said many of those cases have been accepted for prosecution.
He said the end of the surge does not signal an end to immigration enforcement in Minnesota.
“We will continue to enforce title 8 immigration law throughout this nation,” Homan said. “If you are here in the country illegally, you’re not exempt from our immigration laws. If we encounter you, we’ll take appropriate enforcement action.”
Asked about total arrest numbers tied to the surge, Homan said he did not have a full breakdown but said federal authorities made more than 4,000 arrests in Minnesota and said some, but not all, involved people considered public safety threats.
“I don’t have that exact breakdown,” he said. “I know we made over 4,000 arrests here. That is something local field office can supply.”
Homan also said federal officials in Minnesota “have located 3,364 missing unaccompanied alien children,” crediting the discovery to enforcement actions taken under President Donald Trump’s administration.
A smaller federal presence will remain in Minnesota temporarily as the drawdown continues and as investigations into alleged agitator activity and fraud cases remain active, Homan said.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty later responded to the reported end of Operation Metro Surge, saying her office remains focused on investigating federal enforcement actions tied to the operation.
“We receive the news of the alleged end of Operation Metro Surge with some skepticism. Questions should be asked and answered about the exact nature of the cooperation with ICE supposedly promised by local and state officials, who were already providing all information and cooperation required by law,” Moriarty said in a written statement Thursday afternoon.
“If the federal government is really ending this occupation, the reason is that Minnesotans resisted in countless nonviolent ways. This community continues to show inspirational energy and strength in caring for neighbors. Our immigrant community has demonstrated incredible courage,” the statement continued.
Homan said he plans to remain in Minnesota for a period of time to oversee the transition back to local field office control.
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