The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is launching a major enforcement surge in Minnesota, deploying thousands of federal agents to the Twin Cities as part of a combined immigration crackdown and fraud investigation, mainly involving Minneapolis’s Somali community.
2,000 agents headed to Minneapolis area
The Wall Street Journal and CBS News report that about 2,000 officers and agents will take part in the operation. The deployment is expected to be led by Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, who has led high-profile, militarized immigration crackdowns in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and New Orleans.
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According to The Journal, the force will include roughly 1,500 deportation officers focused on immigration arrests, along with about 600 agents from Homeland Security Investigations. Those officers will assist in a broad fraud probe tied to federal social services programs.
One former law enforcement official told CBS the deployment represents a “massive” concentration of federal manpower.
Previous crackdown in December
The surge follows a December operation known as “Operation Metro Surge,” when federal authorities carried out immigration enforcement actions across Minneapolis. DHS said that effort led to hundreds of arrests, including individuals accused of committing crimes while in the country illegally.
Widening fraud investigation
This new deployment comes as Minnesota remains under scrutiny for a sprawling, multi-year investigation into alleged fraud involving federally funded social services programs. Prosecutors say at least 90 people have been charged so far, with roughly 60 convictions, many involving members of the Twin Cities’ Somali community.
The largest case to date centers on the non-profit Feeding Our Future program, where prosecutors say defendants siphoned millions from a federal child nutrition program. Forty-seven people were charged in that case alone.
Investigators are now examining potential fraud tied to child care subsidies, housing assistance and Medicaid. The Minnesota Star Tribune reports documented losses exceeding $200 million in recent years, while the Justice Department and the Trump administration have claimed the number could be as high as $9 billion.
In response, the administration has frozen certain federal child care funds for Minnesota.
Political fallout
The controversy has triggered political consequences. On Monday, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz announced he would not seek re-election in November, saying, “the buck does stop with me.” He had previously pledged to address fraud concerns within the state.
ICE staffing surge
The Minneapolis operation comes as DHS touts a sharp increase in ICE staffing nationwide. The agency announced over the weekend that it has hired about 12,000 additional ICE officers and agents in less than a year, more than doubling the workforce from 10,000 to 22,000.
