Major Minnesota employers stay largely silent as ICE surge hammers Twin Cities immigrants and small businesses
Many of Minnesota’s biggest employers — including Target, Best Buy, U.S. Bank, Medtronic and Cargill — have largely stayed publicly silent or issued only generic statements as ICE’s Operation Metro Surge ramps up enforcement that is hammering Twin Cities immigrants and small businesses. Statewide business groups warn of labor shortages, chilled consumer activity and reputational risk but aren’t openly confronting the administration, and communications experts say the corporate silence is itself becoming a leadership and reputation problem as companies weigh fear of political backlash against their reliance on immigrant workers and customers.
📌 Key Facts
- Many of Minnesota’s largest employers with big Twin Cities footprints — including Target, Best Buy, U.S. Bank, Medtronic and Cargill — have largely stayed publicly silent or issued only generic statements about the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and Operation Metro Surge.
- Statewide business groups such as the Minnesota Chamber and Hospitality Minnesota are voicing concern about labor shortages, chilled consumer activity and reputational risk from the ICE surge, but are not openly confronting the administration.
- Corporate leaders are weighing fear of White House retaliation and shareholder politics against the economic reality that immigrant workers and immigrant customers are central to Minnesota’s economy, especially in health care, food, construction and hospitality.
- Communications experts say Twin Cities corporate leaders are failing basic expectations of transparency and empathy toward employees affected by ICE enforcement actions.
- The lack of public statements from major companies is becoming a reputational and leadership problem for big Minnesota employers, not just an economic risk.
- Criticism is particularly directed at influential metro‑based employers whose frontline workers are directly exposed to Operation Metro Surge activity.
📊 Relevant Data
In Minnesota, Somali-born immigrants who arrived in the U.S. at age 15 or younger have an adjusted incarceration rate of 5,030 per 100,000 for males aged 18-29, compared to 2,450 per 100,000 for U.S.-born males, based on 2006-2024 ACS data.
Yes, Somali Immigrants Commit More Crime Than Natives — City Journal
Federal prosecutors estimate that fraud in Minnesota-run Medicaid services likely exceeds $9 billion, with 14 programs identified as containing fraud costing taxpayers $18 billion overall since the pandemic.
Magnitude cannot be overstated: Feds say Minnesota fraud may be more than $9B — Fox News
Operation Metro Surge has led to the arrest of over 2,400 people in the Twin Cities since it began, targeting individuals including pedophiles, rapists, and violent gang members.
2,400 have been arrested by immigration officials in Twin Cities, NBC reports — KARE11
Minnesota businesses, particularly immigrant-owned ones, are closing or reducing hours due to staff members staying home out of fear from intensified ICE enforcement actions.
Minnesota business owners feeling the effects of ICE enforcement actions — MPR News
Minnesota farmers are facing labor shortages as migrant workers are afraid to go to work amid the ICE surge, impacting sectors like dairy farms and potentially causing economic damage.
Minnesota farmers fear ICE surge could cause economic damage — FOX 9
Working-age Somali immigrants in Minnesota have a 39.0% rate of no high school diploma, compared to 5.0% for working-age natives, based on 2014-2023 ACS data.
Somali Immigrants in Minnesota — Center for Immigration Studies
58.2% of working-age Somali immigrants in Minnesota speak English less than 'very well,' compared to 0.7% of working-age natives, according to 2014-2023 ACS data.
Somali Immigrants in Minnesota — Center for Immigration Studies
📰 Source Timeline (3)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Communications experts quoted saying Twin Cities corporate leaders are failing basic expectations of transparency and empathy toward employees during the ICE surge.
- New framing that the lack of corporate statements is itself becoming a reputational and leadership problem for big Minnesota companies, not just an economic risk.
- Added detail that this criticism is directed at uniquely influential metro‑based employers whose workers are directly exposed to Operation Metro Surge activity.
- Details that many of Minnesota’s largest employers with big Twin Cities footprints — Target, Best Buy, U.S. Bank, Medtronic, Cargill and others — have largely stayed publicly silent or issued only generic statements about the Trump immigration crackdown and Operation Metro Surge.
- Reporting that statewide business groups like the Minnesota Chamber and Hospitality Minnesota are voicing concern about labor shortages, chilled consumer activity and reputational risk, but are not openly confronting the administration.
- Context that corporate leaders are weighing fear of White House retaliation and shareholder politics against the reality that immigrant labor and immigrant customers are central to Minnesota’s economy, especially in sectors like health care, food, construction and hospitality.