ICE Air and Operation Metro Surge

NPR details how Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport is now hosting near‑daily ICE Air charter deportation flights under President Trump’s Operation Metro Surge, with independent plane‑spotter Nick Benson physically counting shackled detainees as they are bused onto remote‑parked aircraft. Benson and local activist group MN50501 say they logged 42 such flights in January alone, filling a data void as the Trump administration refuses to disclose how many people are being removed from Minnesota or where they are sent. DHS, in response to records requests, provided only a topline figure of 3,500 arrests during the surge and framed the operation as targeting "illegal aliens who pose a threat," but offered no flight or destination breakdowns. The report underscores how deportations are being run literally in the background of a busy U.S. airport—often invisible to other travelers—while spotters, advocacy groups and online 'ICE air' trackers increasingly supply the only quantitative window into the scale of forced removals. These on‑the‑ground counts matter for ongoing lawsuits, congressional probes and public scrutiny of Metro Surge, especially as other investigations have already exposed wrongful detentions, court‑order violations and family separations tied to the campaign.