Behind the Mayhem Against ICE in Minneapolis: 4 Important Little-Known Facts You Haven’t Been Told by the Biased Media – and Why

Huey ReportHomeland Security Investigation, ICE, Illegal Immigrants, Minneapolis

Key Takeaways:

  • Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis-St. Paul targeted criminal illegal immigrants and also some Somali immigrants with fraud convictions.
  • Because Minneapolis and St. Paul are sanctuary cities, local police refused to cooperate with illegal immigration enforcement – and refused to protect ICE officers from harassment and interference by protesters.
  • The protests against ICE in Minneapolis have been an organized, coordinated assault by trained insurgents using military-grade intelligence-gathering and interference tactics.
  • The additional ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers were added on January 5th because of safety concerns over the harassment and interference that was occurring.
  • Although White House Border Czar Tom Homan announced an end to Operation Metro Surge on February 12th, that doesn’t mean that all ICE agents will be leaving Minneapolis.

 

 

Your emotions have been manipulated by social media and biased-media video editing.

You are being programmed to sympathize with criminal illegal immigrants and to demonize federal law enforcement officers.

You haven’t been told the truth about the ICE operation in Minneapolis.

You haven’t been told the truth about the protests.

You haven’t been told the truth about the training the protesters – called “rapid responders” – have received.

You haven’t been told the truth about the dangerous harassment and threats the ICE and HSI agents have endured.

You haven’t been told the truth about why the immigration enforcement officers have been wearing masks.

You haven’t been told the truth about the changes that have occurred in Minneapolis since White House Border Czar Tom Homan arrived there.

Here are 4 important untold and little-known facts about Minneapolis and the Somali welfare fraud that you should know about:

  1. The untold facts about the ICE surge in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis and St. Paul are sanctuary cities.

This makes enforcement of federal immigration laws difficult at best – and dangerous to the point of injury or even death at worst.

It means that ICE is not being informed when illegal immigrants are being taken into custody.

It also means that illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes and have been incarcerated are being released back into the community.

On September 29, 2025, the DOJ filed a lawsuit against:

  • Minnesota,
  • The city of Minneapolis,
  • The City of St. Paul,
  • Hennepin County,
  • Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison,
  • and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna S. Witt

over the state’s, cities’ and county’s policies that interfere with the federal government’s enforcement of the immigration laws passed by Congress.[1]

In addition, the radical Democrat socialists – including Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey – hate the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

They hate the deportation of illegal immigrants.

Why?

Because they want to maintain the status quo with respect to the illegal immigrant population in the U.S.

They want to maintain their ethnic “voting blocs.”

It’s the only way they can regain political power and stay in power.

Immigration enforcement and deportation upsets their voting strategy for the 2026 midterm elections and beyond.

This is why Governor Tim Walz has allowed the Somali welfare fraud to continue for so long.

It’s also why the opposition to the immigration enforcement in Minneapolis has been so vehement and so violent.

A federal immigration enforcement operation called Operation Metro Surge began in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area on December 1st.

ICE targeted criminal illegal immigrants – including some with welfare fraud convictions – and some with prior deportation orders.

On December 7th, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a local TV interview that local police would not cooperate with the ICE operation.[2]

ICE had arrested nearly 700 people in the Twin Cities area by the end of December.

But as the operation progressed throughout the month, the safety of the ICE officers was compromised by:

  • incendiary rhetoric by government leaders
  • refusal of local law enforcement to control the protests
  • threats to their safety by angry protesters
  • harassment and interference in the arrests of criminal illegal immigrants by some protesters

As a result of these safety concerns, as many as 600 Homeland Security officers and 1,500 additional ICE officers were deployed to Minneapolis on January 5th.[3]

  1. The untold facts about the Minneapolis “protests.”

The “protests” against ICE in Minneapolis have not been normal spontaneous gatherings of residents in the local metro area.

Far from it.

According to Eric Schwalm, a retired U.S. Army Green Beret, what ICE officers in Minneapolis have been facing is an insurgency.[4]

Literally hundreds of anti-government operatives from over 200 anti-ICE organizations in the U.S. are using military-grade surveillance tactics to track and interfere with ICE operations.[5]

Over 40,000 “rapid responders” have been trained in the past year on the use of a military-grade intelligence-gathering method called “SALUTE.”

SALUTE stands for Size, Activity, Location, Uniform, Time, Equipment.

The information gathered using SALUTE is fed into 13 sophisticated databases.

“MN ICE Plates” is one of these databases.

It stores the photos, license plates, movements, behaviors and vehicles of federal, state and local law enforcement officers and agents.[6]

This is why ICE agents in Minneapolis have been wearing facemasks – it’s to protect them identification, and to protect their families from retaliation.

The stakeout tactics of SALUTE are what led to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Gathering information using their cell phones, they were in places where they shouldn’t have been.

They were interfering with law enforcement activities in violation of 18 U.S. Code § 111.

When radical-Left media reporters complain about ICE detaining and handcuffing U.S. citizens, they aren’t telling you the complete story.

Recently, a group of “rapid responders” in Minneapolis tailed ICE agents so closely with their vehicles that they were ordered at gunpoint to stop their cars – after which they were handcuffed and detained to prevent them from interfering further.[7]

  1. The untold facts about the “drawdown” of 700 ICE/CBP agents.

The recent reduction of 700 ICE/CBP agents in Minneapolis was framed by the media as a capitulation by the Trump administration to the protesters.

Here are the real reasons for the reduction according to White House Border Czar Tom Homan[8]:

  • Unprecedented cooperation of the state prison system
  • Unprecedented cooperation of sheriffs and the jails
  • Reduction of the illegal immigrant criminal target list

As of Wednesday, February 4th, the following illegal immigrants had been arrested in Minneapolis-St. Paul:

  • 14 convicted of homicide
  • 87 convicted sex offenders
  • 139 convicted of assault
  • 28 gang members

In the past month, 158 have been arrested for violating 18 U.S. Code Section 111.[9]

Of these, 85 cases have been accepted for prosecution; the rest are pending.

Of those that raided the church, 9 indictments have been made.

  1. The untold facts about the end of Operation Metro Surge.

In a press briefing on February 12th, Tom Homan announced that Operation Metro Surge would come to an end.[10]

As expected, Minnesota politicians – who detest illegal immigration enforcement – reacted much differently to the news than did Tom Homan, who is responsible for immigration enforcement:

  • Minneapolis Mayer Jacob Frey declared victory over ICE: “They thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation,” he said.[11]
  • Tom Homan attributed the decision to end the surge on improved cooperation with local and state law enforcement that allows immigration detention to occur in jails and prisons rather than on the streets after illegal immigrant criminals have been released.

He also said that local law enforcement agencies had begun to respond more consistently and more quickly to protests.

“We are leaving Minnesota safer,” he said.[12]

Illegal immigrants are still being arrested and detained in street operations, even though the surge has ended.

Tom Homan said in his press briefing that he will remain in Minneapolis while “a small footprint of personnel” remains to “transition full command and control back to the field office.”[13]

Action Items:

  1. There has been much opposition to illegal immigration enforcement and to ICE in particular due to selective video editing of protesters confronting, harassing and interfering with ICE detention operations. Share this article with family and friends so that they will have a more complete perspective and understanding of what really happened in Minneapolis during the past two months.
  2. Contact your local state assembly representative and your Congressperson and two state Senators in Washington, D.C. and let them know you support illegal immigration enforcement and that you agree that protesters who interfere with ICE operations should be arrested and prosecuted for violating U.S. Code 18 § 111.
  3. If you don’t already have it, get my book, The Deep State: 15 Surprising Dangers You Should Know, and read chapter 6, “Warning: Judicial Activists are Legislating Dangerous Far-Left Ideology from the Bench.” Federal activist judges are making “rulings” regarding illegal immigration deportations that are far outside of their constitutional authority. Most people are unaware that the judicial branch cannot tell the executive branch what to do – at least not according to Article 3 of the U.S. Constitution.

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FAQs:

  1. Why are there so many untold stories about the ICE presence in Minneapolis over the past two months?
    A. It’s because radical-Left media talking heads and radical-Left social media influencers want to manipulate public emotions and turn the public against the government and against the Trump administration.
  2. Why have protests against immigration enforcement become so violent in the past year?
    A. Because protesters are now being trained to use military-grade intelligence gathering tactics which require close proximity to federal vehicles and personnel. Also, since the riots of 2020, activist judges and far-Left politicians consider the First Amendment guarantee of free speech to include destruction of government property and physical harassment of government employees.
  3. Why have ICE officers in Minneapolis been wearing masks?
    A. Because trained protesters want to take their photos and enter them into a national database so they can be identified, tracked and potentially harmed – along with their families.

About Craig Huey:

Craig Huey is the founder of Huey Alert and a nationally recognized conservative Christian strategist, author, and speaker who helps Americans understand—and act at—the intersection of faith, politics, and freedom.

Key credentials and experience:

  • Founder of a marketing and political consulting agency that’s won 124 marketing awards active since Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign
  • Advertising agency for small and large corporations.
  • Political consultant to winning candidates nationwide using geofencing and advance AI and digital marketing.
  • Interviewed in 148 TV, radio, and podcast appearances during the 2024 election cycle
  • Speaker for hundreds of organizations, including over 100 churches
  • Publisher of The Huey Alert newsletter
  • Co-host of The Huey Alert Podcast with his wife, Shelly

Author of multiple books, including:

  • The Deep State: 15 Surprising Dangers You Should Know
  • The Great Deception: 10 Shocking Dangers and the Blueprint for Rescuing the American Dream
  • The Christian Voter: 7 Non-Negotiables for Voting For, Not Against, Your Values
  • The New Multichannel, Integrated Marketing: 28 Trends for Creating a Multichannel, Integrated Campaign to Boost Your Profits Now
  • Craig has been regularly on national media multiple times such as FOX, FOX Business, OAN and Newsmax.

He doesn’t analyze politics from the sidelines.

He helps win battles that shape the future.

[1] https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-minnesota-over-sanctuary-policies

[2] Harold Hutchison, https://www.westernjournal.com/tom-homan-reveals-just-many-people-arrested-interfering-ice/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=top-news-alert&utm_campaign=news-alert&utm_content=2026-02-08

[3] Jack Davis, https://www.westernjournal.com/trump-admin-cracks-tim-walzs-minnesota-massive-immigration-operation-thousands-agents-flooding-state/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=top-news-alert&utm_campaign=news-alert&utm_content=2026-01-08

[4] Asra Q. Nomani, Alba Cuebas Fantauzzi, https://www.foxnews.com/us/anti-ice-digital-minutemen-use-military-grade-surveillance-tactics-against-feds

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U8TtsN7ubI

[9] Ibid.

[10] Gigo Douban, https://www.npr.org/2026/02/12/nx-s1-5712280/minnesota-ice-surge-ends

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid.