An ICE arrest detainer is a written request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) asking a jail, prison, or other law‑enforcement agency to (1) tell ICE before they release a person ICE believes is deportable, and (2) hold that person for up to 48 hours (excluding weekends/holidays) after they would otherwise be released so ICE can come take custody. It is a civil immigration request, not a criminal warrant. State and local agencies are not legally required under federal law to comply, and many jurisdictions limit or refuse compliance because of constitutional and liability concerns; if a jail does honor a detainer, the person typically finishes (or is cleared of) their local charges, then is transferred directly to ICE custody instead of being released to the community.
Operation Metro Surge is a large‑scale interior immigration enforcement “surge” in Minnesota that began in late 2025. It concentrates federal immigration agents in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis–Saint Paul) and, later, the rest of the state to arrest and deport people ICE says are removable, with an emphasis—per DHS—on those it labels “criminal illegal aliens.” DHS describes it as one of its biggest immigration enforcement operations. It is run primarily by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), especially its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arm, with participation from other DHS components such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
In this context, “Worst of the Worst” is a DHS/ICE branding and descriptive label, not a formal legal program. DHS has created a public website (“Arrested: Worst of the Worst”) and a stream of press releases using that phrase to spotlight non‑citizens it says are “criminal illegal aliens” with serious or violent convictions, but there is no separate statute or distinct legal authority attached to the label—it is a communications campaign layered on top of existing ICE enforcement operations like Operation Metro Surge.
ICE and DHS rely mainly on federal immigration statutes for authority to arrest non‑citizens and take them into custody from state or local jails:
• 8 U.S.C. § 1357 (Immigration and Nationality Act § 287) authorizes immigration officers to question, arrest, and detain non‑citizens suspected of immigration violations, including taking custody from other law‑enforcement agencies. • 8 U.S.C. § 1226 authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to arrest and detain non‑citizens pending removal proceedings, including issuing detainers for people already held by federal, state, or local officials.
In practice, ICE usually does not “enter” jails by force. Instead, it issues immigration detainers to the jail requesting notification and a short post‑release hold; if the jail cooperates, ICE officers come to the facility and assume custody when the person would otherwise be released. Some state and local governments limit or refuse such cooperation, which is part of the conflict highlighted in the Minneapolis/Minnesota press releases.
DHS/ICE generally verify immigration status through biometric and database checks tied to arrests and bookings:
• When someone is arrested and fingerprinted by a local, state, or federal agency, those fingerprints are sent to the FBI and then automatically shared with DHS under programs like Secure Communities. ICE uses this to identify “criminal aliens” in other agencies’ custody. • ICE and the DHS Office of Biometric Identity Management compare fingerprints and other biometrics against IDENT, DHS’s large biometric database, and related systems to determine whether the person is a non‑citizen, what their prior immigration history is (entries, visas, prior deportation orders), and whether DHS records show they are removable. • Based on those checks, ICE may then lodge an immigration detainer or seek a warrant and later place the person into immigration proceedings.
The specific figures DHS cites in the article—“nearly 470” people released and “more than 1,360” ICE detainers in Minnesota custody—come from DHS itself in a January 13, 2026 press release and are repeated in some news coverage. Independent public records that confirm or break down those exact numbers are not yet publicly available. Minnesota state and local officials are challenging Operation Metro Surge and DHS’s narrative in court, but their lawsuit filings and press releases focus on constitutional and civil‑rights issues rather than validating DHS’s numerical claims.