Immigration Agents Surge Into Minneapolis in ‘Largest Operation Ever’

Thousands of federal agents and officers spread across the Minneapolis–St. Paul area Tuesday.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem participating in an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on Jan. 6, 2026, that resulted in the arrest of Tomas Espin Tapia, a fugitive wanted for murder and sexual assault in Ecuador. DHS

The Trump administration has launched what officials described as the largest immigration enforcement operation ever Tuesday in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, initiating the deployment of federal agents and officers in a crackdown tied to widespread fraud investigations allegedly involving mainly Somali residents.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was on the ground early Tuesday as the sweep started, adding to the number of top federal officials focused on the state as federal investigations expand this week.

The Department of Homeland Security has made more than 1,000 arrests of illegal immigrants, many with criminal convictions, in Minnesota, including 150 in Minneapolis Monday, the agency reported.

“We have the largest immigration operation ever taking place right now,” acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons told Newsmax on Tuesday.

Federal agents and officers were going door to door at businesses in the area suspected of being involved in illegal hiring and fraud, Lyons said.

“We’re not leaving until the problem is solved,” DHS wrote on X Tuesday.

DHS and ICE did not return requests to confirm how many agents and officers were involved in the operations.

According to Noem, Minnesota authorities are not allowing immigration officers to access state detention centers to detain illegal immigrants with pending deportation orders. A large number of federal officers was needed after a lack of local support, Noem indicated in a social media post Tuesday.

“You won’t steal from Americans or break our laws and get away with it,” Noem said.

Included in Tuesday’s arrests was Tomas Espin Tapia, a fugitive wanted for murder in Ecuador, DHS reported. Tapia illegally entered the U.S. in October 2022 and was released into the country by the Biden administration, according to the agency.

Tapia’s criminal history also includes sexual assault in Connecticut and previous convictions in Ecuador for robbery and extortion.

Mong Cheng, a criminal illegal immigrant from Laos who was convicted of homicide, vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, assault, and arson, was also among those arrested Tuesday, DHS reported.

Immigrant rights groups and elected officials in the Twin Cities area reported an increase in sightings of federal agents, especially around St. Paul.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz blasted the immigration operation, calling it “ridiculous.”

“Nobody is fooled into thinking this bafoonery [sic] is a reasonable use of taxpayer dollars,” Walz wrote on X. “It should not take 50 ICE agents to arrest one guy in a library.”

Walz dropped his reelection bid Monday as federal agencies expanded investigations into alleged systemwide social services fraud in the state. The former vice presidential candidate said he needed time to concentrate on combating fraud.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.