ICE is still arresting people in Minnesota -- but the tactics have changed

Jeff Hargarten and Susan Du, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Aug 26, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested more than 900 immigrants across Minnesota since March, according to a Star Tribune analysis of federal records released by the Deportation Data Project spanning March through early August.

While the numbers are a fraction of those detained during the height of last winter’s Operation Metro Surge, the analysis shows there was a dramatic drop in detainments in the month after the surge but a gradual uptick since March.

A review of the data also shows immigration officers have changed tactics. They are now picking up individuals in local law enforcement custody at higher rates than targeting immigrants at work or home.

Compared with Metro Surge, when just 3% of detained individuals were custodial transfers, about 70% of detainments after the operation appear to be people in or near county jails, as well as transfers from state penitentiaries and federal prisons.

During Operation Metro Surge, a reported 4,000 federal agents conducted heavy street enforcement and targeted worksites and homes. The aggressive tactics prompted massive protests and culminated with White House border czar Tom Homan suggesting an end to the campaign in February. Blaming the so-called sanctuary policies of local governments for the way the Surge played out, Homan said he preferred to target immigrants within the secure conditions of county jails and state prisons.

“Give us access to the illegal alien public safety threat in the safety and security of a jail,” Homan said at the time. “It’s safer for the community, it’s safer for the agent and it’s safer for the alien because anything can happen on a street arrest.”

About 80% of those detained by ICE since March had criminal records or pending charges, according to an analysis of the data, an increase from Operation Metro Surge.

Minnesota law doesn’t allow jails to hold people on immigration detainers if the person should otherwise be released from custody. Most people in county jails have not yet been convicted of crimes.

However, federal agents have reviewed public jail rosters to determine an inmate’s immigration status. If there’s an opportunity to take someone into custody, agents can ask to be informed when people are released.

“We don’t call if we suspect somebody’s undocumented or anything,” Dakota County Sheriff Joe Leko said. “ICE initiates the contact. They scan our booking reports every day, and they will send over the detainers on those that they wish to come and take custody of.”

Dakota County Jail won’t hold a detainee for immigration enforcement, Leko said, but jail officials will inform federal agents when a targeted individual is scheduled to be released. ICE follows through about 70% of the time.

On the other hand, state law requires the Minnesota Department of Corrections to notify ICE when a person in state custody, post-conviction, is not a U.S. citizen. The corrections department honors all federal requests without exception and coordinates pickup upon request, according to a spokesperson for the department.

The data also shows that ICE categorized 58 arrests at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and about 50 near Fort Snelling, where there is an immigration court. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment about the data.

The Deportation Data Project, a group of academics and attorneys based at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and UCLA, has noted limitations and inconsistencies within the federal data. Some arrests were also counted more than once, and some apprehensions appear to be missing.

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