ICE detainees flood Minnesota courts with habeas petitions
A FOX 9 investigation finds that 312 immigration detainees have already filed habeas corpus petitions in Minnesota federal court through Jan. 21 — more than the 260 filed in all of 2025 — as lawyers race to challenge arrests and detentions under Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis–St. Paul. Attorneys describe a "dizzying" pace of emergency filings because people seized on Twin Cities streets often vanish into ICE custody and are flown out of state, sometimes to El Paso, within hours, spending little or no time at the Whipple Federal Building. They estimate that federal judges are granting relief in over 90% of cases, either ordering detainees released outright or forcing bond hearings in immigration court, allowing people to fight their cases from home instead of distant prisons. The story highlights rulings like the one freeing Liberian resident Garrison Gibson after a judge found ICE’s battering‑ram home raid in north Minneapolis violated the Fourth Amendment, and it underscores how the courts are becoming the main check on federal tactics that have terrorized families and neighborhoods across the metro. Advocates are amplifying these outcomes online, urging more families to push counsel toward habeas petitions, while ICE continues to stonewall media questions about why so many of its Minnesota detentions are failing basic constitutional scrutiny.
📌 Key Facts
- Case data show 312 habeas corpus petitions filed by ICE detainees in Minnesota as of Jan. 21, already exceeding the 260 filed in all of 2025.
- Immigration attorney David Wilson says his office filed 45 habeas petitions in a recent five‑day stretch and estimates detainees are winning relief in more than 90% of cases.
- Detainees picked up in the Twin Cities are often transferred out of Minnesota the same day, sometimes within hours, with some never spending more than about an hour at the Whipple Federal Building before being flown to facilities like El Paso.
- In the high‑profile case of Garrison Gibson, a federal judge found ICE’s warrantless battering‑ram raid on his north Minneapolis home violated the Fourth Amendment and ordered his immediate release.
📊 Relevant Data
Operation Metro Surge is a large-scale ICE enforcement operation in Minnesota that began in December 2025, deploying thousands of agents to apprehend immigrants described as the 'worst of the worst' criminal illegal aliens, resulting in over 2,400 arrests by January 13, 2026.
2,400 have been arrested by immigration officials in Twin Cities, NBC News reports — KARE 11
ICE's Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota has primarily targeted Somali neighborhoods, with reports of arrests outside Somali housing areas and malls.
ICE officials target Somali neighborhoods, scoop up U.S. citizens in Twin Cities sweep — Sahan Journal
Somali immigrants in Minnesota commit crimes at a rate two to five times higher than natives when comparing apples-to-apples statistics.
Yes, Somali Immigrants Commit More Crime Than Natives — City Journal
Fewer than 30% of ICE detainees nationwide in 2025 had criminal convictions, compared to 71% who did not.
Did fewer than 30% of ICE detainees in 2025 have criminal records? — MinnPost
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
Minnesota has the largest Somali diaspora in the US, with over 80,000 ethnic Somalis, primarily resettled as refugees since the 1990s due to the Somali civil war and facilitated by US refugee programs.
How Minnesota became the center of the Somali diaspora — Sahan Journal
Venezuelan immigrants in the US have an incarceration rate of 241 per 100,000, lower than the rate for US-born citizens.
Illegal Immigrant Incarceration Rates, 2010–2023 — Cato Institute
📰 Source Timeline (1)
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