Minnesota ICE Operations

Faith leaders and congregations have mobilized to resist ICE’s "Operation Metro Surge," backing protests and an "ICE Out" economic blackout in which dozens of Twin Cities restaurants, bars and cafés plan early closures, fund staff to join demonstrations, post signs barring federal agents and distribute whistles, while some hotels identified as housing ICE officers have turned away guests. The enforcement sweep has reportedly battered Minneapolis’s economy—businesses cite sales drops up to 80% and a Minneapolis Fed survey found reduced foot traffic and lower employment—prompting a lawsuit by the state and cities to halt the operation even as U.S. officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, have visited, condemned a church disruption and said federal subpoenas have been issued to state and local leaders.

FBI Director Kash Patel urged the public and media not to “cement a false narrative” and to remain calm while the FBI and DHS, working with state and local partners, investigate two killings involving ICE and Border Patrol agents in Minnesota and review Signal group chats that share agents’ movements — involvement the bureau says is limited to instances where users incite violence or threaten officers. Patel also disclosed the FBI arrested four people for vandalizing an FBI vehicle and stealing sensitive information used to threaten agents and their families, and that the bureau led actions charging protesters with federal FACE Act violations after anti‑ICE demonstrators stormed a Minnesota church.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said on CBS that the Trump administration’s Minnesota immigration crackdown "must be terminated" after Border Patrol agents shot and killed Minneapolis ICU nurse Alex Pretti, calling the deployment "broken" and demanding all federal agents be pulled out of the state. He said President Trump should fire Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as "wholly unqualified" and, if he refuses, Congress should remove her, but stressed his main focus is on whether lawmakers will strip funding for interior ICE operations from the DHS appropriations bill due this week. With a Jan. 30 deadline to avert a partial shutdown, Shapiro urged senators to add explicit language barring money for operations like the Minnesota surge and said there is "bipartisan consensus" that the deployment "is wrong and needs to end," arguing a shutdown is unnecessary if Congress cuts off funds for the mission. His comments add pressure from a prominent swing‑state Democrat to an already volatile fight over DHS funding, impeachment efforts against Noem, and the political fallout from two recent fatal federal shootings in Minneapolis. Any change to DHS funding would still need House approval, where members are currently in recess, underscoring the narrow window for real action before government funding expires.

At a Jan. 9 Concord vigil for Renee Nicole Good, New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Robert Hirschfeld warned clergy to "get their affairs in order" and prepare for a "new era of martyrdom" amid an ICE crackdown, explicitly invoking the example of Episcopal seminarian Jonathan Daniels. Daniels—praised by Martin Luther King Jr. for his 1965 civil‑rights work and killing—has been declared a martyr and saint by the Episcopal Church, with a feast day on Aug. 14 that commemorates his arrest during a peaceful protest.

The University of Minnesota is tightening campus security and offering more remote class flexibility as thousands of federal immigration agents operate in the state under DHS’s Operation Metro Surge. In guidance issued Thursday ahead of Tuesday’s spring‑semester start, administrators said nearly all campus buildings will shift to badge‑only entry via U Cards, while some courses will permit virtual attendance at deans’ discretion to accommodate students worried about travel during the federal surge. The university stressed that its police department does not enforce federal immigration law and does not ask about immigration status, and it is steering non‑citizen students to Student Legal Services for immigration advice, including reminders to carry documentation. The changes mirror moves by other Minnesota institutions and faith groups to shield students and workers as ICE ramp‑ups and the Renee Good shooting fuel protests, fear and legal challenges across the Twin Cities. For a flagship public university, these steps effectively codify a partial sanctuary posture on campus, even as federal operations continue around it.