Twin Cities leaders stage coordinated pushback to ICE surge
FOX 9’s live‑updates piece pulls together the next phase of the ICE story: on Tuesday, Jan. 20, multiple Twin Cities constituencies — Dakota County commissioners, students and families, physicians, MSP airport workers and clergy — are holding staggered press conferences to denounce the ongoing ICE surge that began before Renee Good was killed by an ICE agent in south Minneapolis. The coverage notes that the U.S. Department of Justice has now filed its formal answer in Minnesota’s case seeking to halt Operation Metro Surge, dismissing the state’s motion as 'legally frivolous,' even as a federal judge just ordered DHS to free six Venezuelan family members snatched in a St. Paul raid where agents had no warrant. At the same time, social media is driving a 'Taco Tuesday' campaign urging residents to eat at immigrant‑owned restaurants that have seen business collapse while people hide from raids. Trump is pouring gasoline on the fire from Washington, calling church‑service protesters 'agitators and insurrectionists' and demanding Walz and Ilhan Omar be 'thrown in jail, or thrown out of the country,' rhetoric that only hardens the lines as local officials, unions and clergy line up in opposition to the surge.
📌 Key Facts
- Operation Metro Surge and ICE street operations continue in Minneapolis–Saint Paul nearly two weeks after ICE officer Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good.
- DOJ has filed its response to Minnesota’s attempt to end the surge, branding the state’s motion 'legally frivolous' while a federal judge has ordered DHS to release six Venezuelan family members seized in a warrantless St. Paul raid.
- A coordinated slate of Tuesday news conferences features the Dakota County Board (surge costs), students and families (impact on education), Minnesota physicians (health impacts) and MSP airport workers (ICE at the airport), alongside a 'Taco Tuesday' social‑media push to support immigrant‑owned restaurants.
- President Trump used Truth Social to label protesters who disrupted a St. Paul church service over an ICE‑linked pastor as 'insurrectionists' and called for Gov. Walz and Rep. Ilhan Omar to be jailed or expelled from the country.
📊 Relevant Data
From 2010 to 2023, Venezuelan illegal immigrants had the lowest incarceration rate among selected nationalities at 241 per 100,000, compared to higher rates for other groups and natives.
Illegal Immigrant Incarceration Rates, 2010–2023 — Cato Institute
Somali Minnesotans generate at least $500 million in income annually and pay about $67 million in state and local taxes.
Somali Minnesotans drive economic growth, pay $67M taxes annually — KSTP
Approximately 39 percent of working-age Somalis in Minnesota have no high school diploma, compared to lower rates among the general population.
Somali Immigrants in Minnesota — Center for Immigration Studies
The economic and political crises in Venezuela since 2015 have driven record numbers of Venezuelans to migrate to the United States.
Venezuelan Immigrants in the United States — Migration Policy Institute
Roughly 22% of working-age people who reported Somali ancestry in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area are self-employed, indicating high entrepreneurship rates.
Minnesota's Somali residents largely work in a few key industries — Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal
Immigrants in the United States commit crimes at lower rates than the US-born population.
Explainer: Immigrants and Crime in the United States — Migration Policy Institute
📰 Source Timeline (1)
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