Operation Metro Surge is a concentrated DHS/ICE enforcement initiative launched in late Nov. 2025 to identify, arrest and remove non‑citizens DHS characterizes as serious criminal offenders in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area and later wider Minnesota. It is led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—primarily Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO)—with support from other DHS law‑enforcement components (ICE special agents/HSI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel and other DHS units) deployed to the state.
DHS press releases and ICE statements say arrests in Minnesota were carried out by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) teams, with additional personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other DHS law‑enforcement components deployed to support the operation.
DHS/ICE use “criminal illegal alien” in public statements to mean a non‑U.S. citizen who is both (a) alleged or convicted of criminal offenses under state or federal law and (b) removable or present in the U.S. without lawful status (e.g., no valid immigration status or subject to a final order of removal). The underlying legal term for noncitizens is “alien” (8 U.S.C. §1101(a)(3)); whether someone is removable depends on immigration records, convictions, and case status determined by ICE/immigration courts.
DHS’s 10,000+ figure is asserted in DHS/ICE press releases and appears to come from internal ICE arrest tallies for Minnesota during the operation. ICE publishes ERO statistics dashboards and periodic press tallies, but there is no publicly available, independently audited packet that breaks down or reconciles a 10,000‑arrest Minnesota total; independent reporting and court filings have queried DHS counts and definitions used.
“Sanctuary” policies generally refer to local laws, ordinances or practices that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement—most commonly by restricting local compliance with ICE detainer requests or refusing to share certain immigration status information—aiming to prioritize community trust and local priorities. Such policies can reduce routine transfers of detained people to ICE custody and complicate federal arrest/transfer efforts, but the exact effect depends on the local policy language and federal/local agreements.
Tricia McLaughlin is Assistant Secretary for the DHS Office of Strategy, Policy, and Performance (title used in the DHS release); she is identified in DHS materials as an Assistant Secretary within DHS leadership who speaks for the department in public statements on law‑enforcement operations.