Under Siege: Immigration Raids Across America
Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis — described by DHS as the largest immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history — has become the defining event of the immigration enforcement crisis, deploying up to 2,000 agents, producing roughly 3,000 arrests, and resulting in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents: Renée Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse shot ten times while protesting. But Minneapolis is only the most visible front in a nationwide campaign: ICE’s workforce has more than doubled to over 22,000 officers, operations have expanded to Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, and dozens of smaller cities, and the agency is increasingly using warrantless traffic stops, facial recognition, worksite raids, and racial profiling as standard tactics. The consequences are measured in lives ended, communities shattered, and a $203 million economic impact in Minneapolis alone in a single month.
Operation Metro Surge — Occupation of Minneapolis
The Largest Immigration Enforcement Operation in U.S. History Deploys to Minneapolis
Operation Metro Surge began in early December 2025 with the deployment of ICE and Border Patrol agents to Minneapolis-St. Paul. By mid-January, up to 2,000 agents were operating in the Twin Cities, conducting what DHS described as the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out. The operation produced roughly 3,000 arrests, daily confrontations with residents, school lockdowns, mass business closures, and a statewide general strike on January 23. The state of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and St. Paul filed suit calling the deployment an unconstitutional ‘federal invasion.’
Renée Good Killed by ICE Agent Jonathan Ross; DOJ Prosecutors Resign in Protest
Renée Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old American citizen and mother of three, was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross during an immigration operation in Minneapolis. Video analysis suggests Good was attempting to steer away from agents, not toward them, contradicting official claims of self-defense. DHS Secretary Noem called Good’s actions ‘domestic terrorism.’ More than a dozen federal prosecutors in Minneapolis and Washington resigned after DOJ leadership declined to open a civil rights investigation, instead treating the case as an assault on a federal officer.
Alex Pretti, ICU Nurse, Shot Ten Times by ICE Agents During Protest
Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was fatally shot by ICE agents while participating in a protest against enforcement operations on Minneapolis’s Nicollet Avenue. Video appears to show Pretti filming officers with his phone, coming to the aid of a pushed protester, being pepper-sprayed, hit in the head, and pushed to the ground. An officer yelled ‘gun’ — Pretti had a permitted concealed handgun in his waistband. Video shows an officer removing the gun while Pretti was on the ground; seconds later, as many as ten gunshots rang out, killing him.
Nationwide Enforcement Escalation
ICE Workforce Doubles to 22,000; 379,000 Arrests in First Year
ICE’s personnel has more than doubled in the past year, growing from around 10,000 to over 22,000 officers. The agency conducted nearly 379,000 arrests in Trump’s first year, including over 7,000 suspected gang members. A January 2026 announcement touted a 120% workforce increase through a recruitment campaign that received over 220,000 applications. At a House hearing, ICE Director Lyons stated: ‘The president tasked us with mass deportations, and we are fulfilling that mandate.’
Chicago Midnight Raid: 37 Detained in South Shore Apartment Building, Families Torn Apart
ProPublica investigated a midnight raid on a South Shore apartment building in Chicago where 37 people were detained. DHS classified detainees as flight risks using baseless criteria contradicted by their own arrest narratives. One man had moved in with his wife and three daughters just two days before. Most were deported; one family was detained in Texas for a month, including a 6-year-old child. Attorneys allege the government described immigrants as flight risks ‘though they were not’ to justify warrantless arrests under an existing consent decree.
DHS Deploys Facial Recognition, Drones, and AI in Enforcement Operations
An Associated Press report documented DHS’s use of facial recognition apps during traffic stops in Minneapolis, expanding the surveillance technologies deployed in immigration enforcement. Drone surveillance expanded in urban areas across California, and advocates warned about new uses of AI to identify deportation targets and analyze asylum applicants’ digital histories. The surveillance apparatus has swept in U.S. citizens alongside immigrants, raising Fourth Amendment concerns.
Resistance and Community Response
Minnesota General Strike: Statewide Economic Blackout Against ICE Operations
A broad coalition of community organizers, faith leaders, and activists called a statewide general strike, described as an ‘economic blackout’ and Day of Truth & Freedom. Hundreds of businesses closed in solidarity. Sub-zero marches drew thousands. The University of Minnesota Student Unions called their own strike for January 30. Over 60 CEOs of major Minnesota companies — including 3M, Target, Best Buy, Mayo Clinic, and UnitedHealth Group — signed an open letter calling for immediate de-escalation.
Masked Agents and No Accountability: Congress Confronts ICE Director
At a House hearing, lawmakers confronted ICE Director Lyons about agents wearing masks during raids. Rep. Timothy Kennedy stated: ‘In America, we shouldn’t have secret police. The Constitution does not give your agency the right to hide their faces while they kill Americans.’ When asked to commit to unmasking agents and requiring standard uniforms with identifiable badges, Lyons responded simply: ‘No.’ DHS has said agents need masks for protection from ‘threats, harassment and assaults.’
ProPublica: 40+ Cases of ICE Agents Using Banned Chokeholds
A ProPublica investigation identified more than 40 cases of immigration agents using banned chokeholds and other moves that cut off breathing during enforcement operations. Civilians experienced apparent seizures. An earlier investigation found an ICE agent who punched someone during a worksite raid and, in discovery, was seen on video putting his boot on another worker’s neck. Reuters found over 650 people charged with the ‘catch-all’ federal crime of interfering with federal agents.
State and Local Response — Legal and Political Pushback
Colorado: ICE Repeatedly Violates Court Order Against Warrantless Arrests
Attorneys alleged that ICE repeatedly violated a court order restricting warrantless arrests in Colorado, continuing to ‘indiscriminately’ arrest people without warrants and without checking if they posed flight risks. Near Vail, agents pulled over and handcuffed men without warrants, then left branded playing cards with ICE contact information in their abandoned cars. ICE did not respond to requests for comment.
Homan Declares Metro Surge Ending; Minneapolis Counts the Cost
Border czar Tom Homan announced the end of Operation Metro Surge following the fatal shootings, mass protests, a statewide general strike, and a federal lawsuit by Minnesota, Minneapolis, and St. Paul. A ‘small footprint’ of agents will remain. The city’s preliminary impact assessment documented $203.1 million in community harm in one month. The editors of The Nation nominated Minneapolis and its people for the Nobel Peace Prize, writing that ‘the moral leadership of the people and city of Minneapolis has set an example for those struggling against fascism everywhere.’
The state of Article 9 rights in early 2026 is defined by a fundamental shift in the nature of immigration enforcement: from targeted operations against individuals with criminal records to mass campaigns against entire communities. Operation Metro Surge deployed 2,000 agents to a single metropolitan area, produced 3,000 arrests, and killed two U.S. citizens — a scale of force that state and local authorities described as a ‘federal invasion.’ Nationwide, ICE doubled its workforce to 22,000, conducted 379,000 arrests, and increasingly relies on warrantless stops, facial recognition, and racial profiling as standard practice.
The human cost is staggering: two citizens killed by federal agents during enforcement operations, over 40 documented cases of banned chokeholds, midnight raids that sweep up families with children, and a $203 million economic impact in Minneapolis alone. The administration’s refusal to unmask agents, investigate shootings, or discipline officers who use banned techniques signals that the enforcement apparatus has been designed to operate beyond accountability.
Yet Minneapolis also demonstrated that Article 9 rights can be defended through collective action. The convergence of community protests, a statewide general strike, corporate pressure from 60+ CEOs, a federal lawsuit, and sustained international attention forced the withdrawal of the surge. Bruce Springsteen’s protest song reached number one in 19 countries. The Nation nominated the city for the Nobel Peace Prize. The question for 2026 is whether this model of resistance can be sustained as enforcement operations shift to new cities — and whether the fundamental principle that detention must not be arbitrary can survive a government that has explicitly adopted ‘mass deportation’ as its mandate.
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