WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has launched what officials describe as the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out, preparing to deploy as many as 2,000 federal agents and officers to the Minneapolis area for a sweeping crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
The deployment, which began over the weekend, represents one of the largest single-city mobilizations of Department of Homeland Security personnel in years, according to a person briefed on the operation. The surge dramatically expands the federal law enforcement footprint in Minnesota amid heightened political and community tensions.
The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the operation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons said during an interview with Newsmax that the agency was carrying out its “largest immigration operation ever,” though he did not specify how many officers were involved.
Roughly three-quarters of the personnel are expected to come from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, which carries out immigration arrests and deportations, the person said. The operation also includes agents from Homeland Security Investigations, ICE’s investigative arm, which typically focuses on fraud and cross-border criminal networks. HSI agents were going door-to-door in the Twin Cities area investigating allegations of fraud, human smuggling and unlawful employment practices, Lyons said.
The HSI agents are largely expected to concentrate on identifying suspected fraud, while deportation officers will conduct arrests of immigrants accused of violating immigration law, according to the person briefed on the operation. Specialized tactical units are also expected to be involved.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was also in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area and accompanied ICE officers during at least one arrest. In a video posted on the social media platform X, Noem is seen wearing a tactical vest and knit cap as agents arrest a man in St. Paul. In the video, she tells the man, whose hands are cuffed behind his back, “You will be held accountable for your crimes.”
The Department of Homeland Security said in a news release that the man arrested was from Ecuador and that he was wanted in Ecuador and Connecticut on charges including murder and sexual assault.
When asked how many officers and agents had been deployed to Minnesota, Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin declined to provide a figure, citing officer safety. She said DHS had surged law enforcement resources to the state and had already made more than 1,000 arrests of people it described as killers, rapists, child sexual offenders and gang members.
The operation also includes personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including Commander Gregory Bovino, whose role in previous federal operations in other cities has drawn scrutiny from local officials and civil rights advocates, the person familiar with the deployment said.
Federal authorities began increasing immigration arrests in the Minneapolis area late last year. Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel announced last week that federal agencies were intensifying operations in Minnesota, with an emphasis on fraud investigations.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly linked his administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota to fraud cases involving federal nutrition and pandemic aid programs, many of which have involved defendants with roots in Somalia.
The person with information about the current operation cautioned that its scope and duration could shift in the coming days as it develops.
__
Balsamo reported from New York.
