Trump tells governors he won’t force future ICE surges on states
President Trump privately told governors he will not force large-scale ICE enforcement surges on states that oppose them, but that pledge is political — not backed by any written order — and has been met with skepticism from immigrant communities and civil-rights lawyers. In Minnesota, Border Czar Tom Homan has declared Operation Metro Surge over and called it a success even as roughly 700 agents were pulled and about 2,000 ICE officers remain, prompting protests, legal challenges, local leaders’ concern, and disruptions that have turned some business corridors into ad hoc shelters and triage sites.
📌 Key Facts
- President Trump privately told governors he will not force large-scale immigration enforcement surges like Operation Metro Surge on states that do not want them — a political, verbal assurance with no written order or statutory change backing it.
- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is relying on that verbal commitment but is continuing legal action to constrain ICE tactics, saying the pledge is insufficient without enforceable limits.
- Border Czar Tom Homan announced the formal conclusion of Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota and declared it a "success," while saying about 700 agents were withdrawn amid a larger deployed force (roughly 2,000 ICE officers) and leaving open the possibility of similar surges elsewhere.
- Homan said the surge’s "target list is reducing" as state prisons and county jails increasingly coordinate with ICE and Border Patrol, allowing agents to pick people up directly from jails and prisons, and he conditioned any fuller withdrawal on the perceived safety of federal officers from protesters.
- Local impacts in Minneapolis have been severe: on Nicollet Avenue (Eat Street) restaurants and shops opened as ad hoc warming centers and medical triage after a resident was killed by federal immigration agents; business owners report exhaustion and fear that more violence and raids could occur, and officials say ICE’s presence has driven fear affecting businesses, schools and daily life.
- Protesters called the drawdown a "superficial gesture" and demanded a full withdrawal of ICE; Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said her office made no new agreements with ICE, reiterated the county policy of not honoring ICE detainers, called the surge "unprecedented" and said it eroded public trust, and the Hennepin County Board passed a resolution urging the sheriff not to increase voluntary cooperation with ICE without notice.
- Homan defended the operation using internal metrics (arrest totals and labels such as "worst of the worst") and downplayed court losses and habeas releases as expected or minor, even as litigation and local opposition continue.
📊 Relevant Data
Somali-born immigrants in the US have an adjusted incarceration rate of 5,030 per 100,000 for males ages 18-29, compared to 2,450 per 100,000 for U.S.-born males, based on ACS data from 2006-2024.
Yes, Somali Immigrants Commit More Crime Than Natives — City Journal
Minnesota's Somali population is over 75,000 in 2024, representing about 2% of the state's total population.
Somali Immigrants in Minnesota — Center for Immigration Studies
Somali immigration to Minnesota was primarily driven by U.S. refugee resettlement programs starting in 1992, following the Somali civil war in the early 1990s.
Fact Check Team: Minnesota's Somali community, from refugees to political powerhouses — KOMO News
Key policies promoting Somali immigration include refugee visas and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalis, designated since the 1990s due to ongoing instability in Somalia.
Fact Check Team: Minnesota's Somali community, from refugees to political powerhouses — KOMO News
In Operation Metro Surge, only 23 arrestees were from Somalia out of reported arrests, and none had ties to the social services frauds under investigation.
Operation Metro Surge — Wikipedia
Operation Metro Surge resulted in 3,000 arrests in Minneapolis, with demographics including US citizens, legal residents, asylum seekers, Native Americans, Hmong Americans, Latinos, and Somalis, many involving wrongful detentions.
Operation Metro Surge — Wikipedia
📰 Source Timeline (9)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- Governors from both parties say President Trump privately assured them he will not impose large‑scale immigration enforcement surges like Metro Surge on any state that does not want them.
- Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is now operating under that verbal commitment while also suing to constrain ICE tactics, framing the pledge as insufficient without hard legal limits.
- The article notes that no written order or statutory change backs up Trump’s promise; it is a political assurance that could be reversed and is already being greeted with skepticism by immigrant communities and civil‑rights lawyers.
- Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt says her office has not entered into any new agreements with the federal government or ICE "despite what some influential leaders have conveyed."
- Witt publicly calls Operation Metro Surge "unprecedented," says deputies had no template, and acknowledges the surge has "eroded" public trust in law enforcement.
- She backs the county’s existing policy of not honoring ICE detainers and stresses that communication and truthful information from all levels of leadership are critical going forward.
- The Hennepin County Board has just passed a resolution urging the sheriff not to make "substantive changes" that would increase voluntary cooperation with ICE and to notify the board and public of any such changes.
- Adds Alpha News’ framing that Homan is explicitly calling the surge a 'success' and that the operation is 'to end in Minnesota,' reinforcing that this is not just a draw‑down but a declared conclusion.
- Provides an additional conservative outlet’s account of the announcement, useful for cross‑checking language against other federal statements and earlier leaks about a ramp‑down.
- Helps confirm that the 'ICE surge' being ended is the same enforcement wave Twin Cities leaders and courts have been fighting under the Operation Metro Surge label.
- Homan explicitly characterizes Operation Metro Surge as ended and claims it was a "success," despite widespread local opposition and ongoing litigation.
- He offers his own metrics of success (arrest totals, how many he labels 'worst of the worst') and spins court losses and habeas releases as minor or expected, rather than evidence of systemic constitutional violations.
- Homan signals that while the branded 'Metro Surge' is over, ICE and Border Patrol will continue a heightened presence and operations in Minnesota, and he leaves the door open to similar surges elsewhere.
- Tom Homan is now explicitly announcing the conclusion of Operation Metro Surge rather than just a partial reduction in deployed agents.
- The White House is formally characterizing the Metro Surge deployment as complete, rather than ongoing with a smaller footprint.
- The article’s timing and framing make clear this is the official end of the named operation, not merely another adjustment in staffing levels.
- FOX 9 confirms Tom Homan’s public statement that about 700 federal immigration agents are being pulled from Minnesota, leaving roughly 2,000 still deployed under the surge.
- Homan tells FOX 9 that the 'target list is reducing' as state prisons and county jails increasingly coordinate with ICE and Border Patrol, allowing agents to pick people up directly from jails and prisons.
- Protesters gathered outside the Whipple Federal Building explicitly dismiss the drawdown as a 'superficial gesture,' saying a full withdrawal of ICE from Minnesota is the only acceptable outcome and warning the move is meant to get communities to 'let down our guard.'
- Border Czar Tom Homan says 700 federal immigration officers will be withdrawn from Minnesota but roughly 2,000 ICE officers will remain.
- Mayor Jacob Frey explicitly ties Operation Metro Surge to two of Minneapolis’ three homicides this year, both involving ICE agents.
- Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette publicly states that the continued presence of 2,000 ICE officers is driving fear, affecting businesses, schools and daily life.
- Homan conditions a full end to the surge on the 'safety' of ICE officers from protesters, indicating federal willingness to keep the operation going on that basis.
- Details that on Nicollet Avenue’s Eat Street, restaurants and shops opened their doors as ad hoc warming centers and medical triage sites in the minutes and hours after a Minneapolis resident was killed by federal immigration agents.
- Business owners along the corridor are now exhausted and unsure how to keep operating under the threat of more violence and raids in front of their doors.
- This piece grounds the political fight over Metro Surge in a specific commercial corridor, showing how federal use of force has literally turned private storefronts into front‑line response space.