Operation Metro Surge is a large‑scale immigration‑enforcement campaign that the Department of Homeland Security launched in Minnesota in December 2025, initially focused on the Minneapolis–St. Paul metro area and later expanded statewide. DHS describes its goal as arresting and deporting non‑citizens it labels “criminal illegal aliens,” especially those with prior convictions. The operation is run by DHS and draws in multiple components: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — particularly Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) — as well as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including Border Patrol and specialized tactical units.
An ICE arrest detainer is a written request from ICE asking a local, state, or federal jail to: • Notify ICE before releasing a person ICE believes is deportable; and • Hold that person for up to 48 hours (excluding weekends/holidays) after they would otherwise be released, so ICE can take them into immigration custody.
Under federal regulations and ICE’s own guidance, detainers are requests, not orders, and do not themselves create authority for local officers to arrest or keep someone in custody.
In Minnesota, a February 2025 formal opinion from the state Attorney General concludes that state and local law enforcement may not legally hold someone past their normal release time based only on an ICE detainer. The opinion finds: • Extending custody for a detainer counts as a new “arrest” under the U.S. and Minnesota constitutions. • Minnesota law does not give local officers authority to make that civil immigration arrest, and federal law does not supply it. • Holding someone solely on a detainer therefore risks unconstitutional seizure and civil liability for false imprisonment.
Minnesota jails can still communicate with ICE (for example, by sharing public booking and release information), but they cannot lawfully keep someone locked up longer just because ICE sent a detainer.
What happens after these Operation Metro Surge arrests depends on each person’s situation, but the usual paths are:
• If there are pending or new criminal charges (state or federal): – The person is generally transferred to the relevant criminal justice system in Minnesota or federal court. – They may stay in a local jail or federal detention center while the criminal case is prosecuted. – After any sentence is served (or if charges are dropped), ICE can then take custody for immigration processing.
• If there are no pending criminal charges but immigration violations: – ICE processes the person administratively: collects biometrics, confirms identity and status, and typically serves a Notice to Appear (NTA), which starts removal (deportation) proceedings in immigration court. – They are usually held in an immigration detention facility or sometimes released on bond, parole, or supervision while their case is pending.
• If the person already has a prior removal order: – ICE can seek to “reinstate” that order or use expedited procedures without a full new hearing, though people may still be able to raise protection claims (e.g., asylum, fear of persecution or torture).
In all cases, immigration courts (run by DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review) eventually decide whether the person is removable and whether they qualify for any relief, unless ICE executes an existing order without court review.
For the Minnesota arrests highlighted in the DHS release, the listed convictions appear to be overwhelmingly U.S. criminal convictions (state or federal), not foreign convictions:
• DHS describes people as “convicted of” specific offenses such as murder, domestic violence, identity theft, DUI, and federal drug‑trafficking offenses “while on board a vessel,” which correspond to U.S. criminal statutes and charging language. • The separate DHS announcement launching wow.dhs.gov stresses that the site aggregates information on “criminal illegal aliens arrested by DHS during enforcement operations” and notes that “70% of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the United States,” distinguishing those from “foreign fugitives.” • Example profiles on wow.dhs.gov list convictions using U.S. offense names and locations (e.g., “Homicide … Arrested: Bayport, Minnesota”), indicating U.S. court cases.
DHS does sometimes target people wanted or convicted abroad, but nothing in this specific Jan. 16, 2026 Minnesota release indicates it is listing foreign convictions.
DHS does not publish a formal legal definition or fixed checklist for who counts as “worst of the worst.” Instead, it uses the phrase as a political and communications label for non‑citizens it wants to highlight as particularly serious offenders. From DHS’s own descriptions, the practical criteria include:
• Serious violent or sexual offenses – homicide, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, kidnapping, domestic violence, and sex offenses against children are repeatedly cited as “worst of the worst” examples. • Serious drug‑trafficking or weapons crimes – such as large‑scale narcotics distribution or felon‑in‑possession firearm cases. • Crimes against children or other especially vulnerable victims – child molestation, cruelty toward a child, and similar charges. • Multiple or repeated convictions – DHS often emphasizes people with long criminal histories or many separate convictions. • Gang or terrorism links – some profiles highlight alleged gang membership or connections to designated organizations.
The wow.dhs.gov site is curated: DHS selects which individuals to feature, based largely on the severity and/or number of their U.S. criminal charges or convictions. There is no publicly available, binding standard that guarantees consistency or independent review of who is labeled “worst of the worst.”
People in ICE custody—whether picked up in Operation Metro Surge or elsewhere—have important but limited rights and protections. Key ones include:
• Right to counsel, but not at government expense
– In removal proceedings, non‑citizens “shall have the privilege of being represented, at no expense to the Government, by counsel of [their] choosing” (they must pay for or find free counsel themselves).
– Immigration judges must advise people of this right and provide a list of free or low‑cost legal service providers.
• Right to a hearing before an immigration judge (in most cases)
– For most people arrested inside the U.S., DHS must file a Notice to Appear and the person is entitled to a hearing where an immigration judge decides removability and any relief (asylum, cancellation of removal, etc.).
– Exceptions include certain people with prior removal orders, recent border‑crossers, and some criminal cases where expedited procedures apply, though they may still be able to raise fear‑of‑persecution or torture claims.
• Bond / custody review
– Many detained people can ask an immigration judge for bond (release on payment of money) or for release on recognizance; the judge weighs flight risk and danger to the community.
– Some categories (e.g., certain serious criminal convictions) are subject to “mandatory detention” and cannot get bond, though they may seek other forms of custody review or parole.
• Procedural protections in court
– Right to receive and respond to the government’s charges, present evidence and witnesses, cross‑examine government witnesses, and use an interpreter if needed.
– Right to appeal an immigration judge’s decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals, and in many cases to a federal court of appeals.
• Basic detention standards
– ICE detention facilities are supposed to meet minimum standards for medical care, food, safety, and access to legal materials and visits, although advocacy groups frequently document violations.
These rights arise from the Immigration and Nationality Act, federal regulations, and the Constitution’s due‑process protections, even though immigration proceedings are classified as civil, not criminal.
Wow.dhs.gov (“Arrested: Worst of the Worst”) is a DHS‑run database that:
• Lists individual non‑citizens arrested by DHS – Each entry generally includes the person’s name, country of origin, types of convictions (e.g., homicide, sexual assault, drug trafficking), any listed gang affiliation, and the U.S. city and state where they were arrested. • Is searchable and filterable – Users can search by name, state, or country of origin to see profiles of people DHS says were arrested and removed from their communities. • Is curated by DHS, not independently verified – The information is drawn from DHS and ICE internal records and case files. DHS presents it as fact but does not provide underlying court documents, docket numbers, or third‑party verification on the site, and there is no external audit described in its public rollout materials.
According to DHS’s own launch announcement, the site is intended as a communications tool to showcase arrests and deportations of people the agency labels “worst of the worst,” rather than as a neutral or comprehensive criminal‑justice database.