Operation Metro Surge Minnesota Ends After Two Months of Protests and Political Pressure
Operation Metro Surge Minnesota is ending after nearly two months of federal immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities. Border czar Tom Homan announced the drawdown as activists and civil rights leaders credit sustained protests while raising concerns about agreements between ICE and local sheriffs.
Tom Homan, the U.S. border czar who was previously recorded accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents in a sting operation that the Trump administration later shut down, announced Thursday that the nearly two-month Operation Metro Surge is ending.
As part of the withdrawal, Homan said local sheriffs agreed to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when individuals suspected of entering the U.S. illegally are released from jail, often on unrelated charges, allowing federal agents to take them into custody.
Gov. Tim Walz said the new border chief was easier to work with than previous head Greg Bovino in ending the surge of what he described as a record 2,000 masked federal agents deployed to Minnesota.
“I think probably what changed was when Tom Homan came here, I could get a conversation with someone,” Walz said. “Not a single interaction with Kristi Noem, Bovino or any of the rest of them.”
Civil rights activists from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), the Council on American-Islamic Relations Minnesota chapter (CAIR-MN), and Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB) said sustained protests and organized resistance caught the White House off guard and pressured the Trump administration to end what they described as an occupation.
“Trump put on a show in Minnesota, and it failed miserably,” said MIRAC member Erika Zurawski, speaking Thursday outside Hennepin County Sheriff DeWanna Witt’s Office.
CAIR-MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein agreed that protests played a role but pointed to timing as a strategic factor.
“I want you to also know that the timing of this withdrawal is not by accident. It is because the state of Minnesota is going to have its session at the Capitol next week,” Hussein said. “They do not want to walk into the Capitol knowing that the state of Minnesota is under siege.”
The announcement came days after plain-clothed federal agents chased and tackled 18-year-old Junior de Jesus Herrera Berrios through the lobby of the Hennepin County Government Center on Feb. 10 after he completed a court hearing on first-degree drug possession charges, the third known immigration arrest inside the county building within a week.
While Walz framed the drawdown as a victory of negotiation, activists said the agreement came at a cost paid by vulnerable Minnesotans and argued that state and local officials helped ICE.
“It exposes the willingness of Governor Walz and our state and local leaders to sell us out and kiss up to Trump,” Zurawski said. “Homan praised unprecedented cooperation with ICE and looks forward to more help from state and local police to repress protesters.”
Sheriff Witt said she has met with Homan four times. Homan has pushed for access to jail rosters, while Witt said her office would consider ways to notify ICE about upcoming inmate releases.
“There seems to be this overwhelming thought that somebody is going to win it all and go home,” Witt told the Star Tribune. “It’s not going to be one side wins all here.”
The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office has said it works with ICE only when presented with a warrant signed by a judge, commonly referred to as a judicial warrant.
Civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong questioned the terms of any agreement struck with the Trump administration.
“We still don’t know the terms of that agreement,” Armstrong said. “We don’t know if that secret agreement had an impact on Tom Homan claiming they’re going to end Operation Metro Surge.”
CUAPB Director Michelle Gross focused on what she called a fundamental due process violation at the heart of cooperation between sheriffs and ICE.
“The deal being discussed was Sheriff DeWanna Witt allowing ICE into the jails to arrest people who had not had a trial,” Gross said. “When a person is arrested, they are innocent at that point and remain innocent unless and until they are found guilty. So why are we allowing ICE into our jails?”
Hussein warned that the announced drawdown should not obscure ongoing detentions.
“We know, as I’m speaking today, there are hundreds of Minnesotans in detention, even though federal courts have granted relief and said they should be with their families,” Hussein said.
He also praised federal prosecutors who resigned from the Justice Department amid White House directives they said would violate the Constitution.
“That did not end because Homan announced the withdrawal,” Hussein said.
Hussein put Sheriff Witt and county sheriffs statewide on notice that activists would continue organizing.
“We have a message to Sheriff Witt and every sheriff in the state of Minnesota: You saw what Minnesotans did to ICE,” Hussein said. “If you choose to carry ICE’s burden and continue to cooperate, know that Minnesotans are not going to drop their whistle.”
Clint Combs welcomes reader responses at combs0284@gmail.com