What is Operation Metro Surge? What to know about DHS’ immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota

Launched in December 2025, Operation Metro Surge is DHS's major immigration enforcement initiative in Minnesota.

Operation Metro Surge is the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) major interior immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota. It involves agents from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Operation Metro Surge was initiated by DHS as a coordinated interior enforcement effort aimed at identifying individuals subject to removal under US immigration law. (AP)

Launched in December 2025, the operation initially focused on the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area before expanding across the state.

Senior officials from ICE and CBP, who are overseeing Operation Metro Surge, addressed the media on Friday morning, per local time, at the Whipple Federal Building, where they outlined ongoing enforcement activity in Minnesota, according to KSTP. During the briefing, immigration authorities did not provide updated figures on the total number of people taken into custody.

Operation Metro Surge

Operation Metro Surge was initiated by DHS as a coordinated interior enforcement effort aimed at identifying individuals subject to removal under US immigration law. The operation brings together ICE and CBP agents as part of a large-scale federal deployment across Minnesota.

KSTP questioned Marcos Charles, ICE’s executive assistant director of enforcement and removal operations, about who is being detained during the surge. Charles said: “We operate through intelligence and targeted enforcement. We are looking for certain individuals. As we are looking for these individuals, if there is somebody that is illegally in the country and amenable to removal from this country, we will arrest them.”

He added: “Every day that they are here, they are here illegally in the United States. We are not targeting those individuals, but if we come across those individuals in the course of our duties, we will arrest them.”

However, authorities have acknowledged that arrests can include individuals without prior criminal convictions if they are encountered during operations and are deemed removable under federal law.

Officials have also not released a comprehensive breakdown of arrests made so far, including how many involve individuals with criminal histories.

DHS and the ‘worst of the worst’ arrests

According to a DHS press release, ICE officers targeted what the department described as the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” during Operation Metro Surge.

DHS said those arrested include individuals convicted of serious offenses such as gang activity, domestic abuse and predatory crimes.

In a subsequent release, DHS detailed additional follow-up arrests under the same operation, mentioning continued enforcement of existing removal orders against criminal illegal aliens.

DHS has framed these actions as part of an effort to remove individuals it considers dangerous to communities while enforcing federal immigration laws.