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By Dan Gooding and Gabe Whisnant
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Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director (ICE) Todd Lyons said Tuesday the agency is conducting its largest immigration operation ever in Minneapolis.
He said in an interview with Newsmax that Department of Homeland Security officers, under Secretary Kristi Noem, have deployed to the city to target fraud, arrest suspects and remove immigrants with criminal records.
The Education Department said it would send notices to around 1,000 borrowers early this month.
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Why It Matters
Lyons' claim came after reports DHS was sending some 2,000 federal agents to the Twin Cities this week, as it ramps up enforcement efforts in Minnesota. Large-scale operations have been a feature of the second Trump administration, with Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, and Charlotte among the cities that have seen high numbers of ICE and other federal agents take to the streets to arrest alleged illegal immigrants.
What To Know
Part of the driving force behind the operation in Minneapolis was to root out fraud, Lyons said, as well as illegal immigrants being employed without legal status, and to target the businesses knowingly taking such staff on.
In recent weeks, the area has become a focal point for the administration over allegations of fraud carried out by Somali immigrants. While some investigations have been underway since before Trump retook office, the administration has said its officials have been the ones to act.
Part of the response has included White House officials floating the idea of revoking citizenship for naturalized Somali Americans.
As with other cities targeted by DHS, local leaders have pushed back against the department's tactics, with Democratic Governor Tim Walz saying ICE was creating chaos in communities in his state a few days before Christmas.
It was reported by CBS News on Monday that 2,000 federal agents would be sent to Minneapolis, including 600 Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents. That number is roughly the same total as the entire HSI workforce in Arizona.
The last major operation covered Chicago, with dozens of federal agents seen in neighborhoods throughout the city for multiple months. An exact number of agents deployed to the Illinois city was not given, but it has been widely reported that DHS has moved agents around the country to focus on particular areas.
ICE has also been recruiting additional agents, thanks to Congressionally approved funding under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last summer. DHS recently announced it had added some 12,000 staff.
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What People Are Saying
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, speaking Tuesday: "HSI agents, as we've seen in the media, have been going door-to-door to a lot of these suspected companies that are not only hiring illegal aliens that shouldn't even be in the country, but have also potentially been involved in human smuggling cases.
"States like Minnesota that have a strong sanctuary city policy and sanctuary protections do attract other illegal aliens to come there, to take advantage of welfare, public assistance, SNAP benefits."
Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz, on X December 23: "Public safety is strongest when law enforcement can focus on real threats and when communities trust that they will be treated fairly and with dignity. What we’re seeing is not about public safety - it’s political theater that creates fear and weakens trust."
David Bier, director of immigration studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, previously told Newsweek: "The administration cannot unilaterally revoke anyone's citizenship. It can initiate proceedings to request that a court revoke citizenship if it can prove that the citizen committed fraud to obtain citizenship, including by lying about a serious criminal offense prior to naturalization. It is not easy, but it is possible."
**John Sandweg, who served as acting director of ICE from August 2013 to February 2014, previously told Newsweek: "**Unfortunately, much of DHS and ICE's current recruiting efforts seem likely to encourage people who are motivated to public service for the wrong reasons and the lowering of hiring standards only increases the risk that some of these applicants may be brought on board."
What Happens Next
Agents have already been on the ground making arrests, with Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin telling Newsweek Tuesday that over 1,000 suspects had been detained in the area so far. The operation is likely to continue for the next few weeks.
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