{"id":10142,"date":"2026-02-14T15:24:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T15:24:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/14\/what-is-it-about-minnesota-that-made-it-a-target-for-trumps-ice-crackdown-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T15:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T15:24:24","slug":"what-is-it-about-minnesota-that-made-it-a-target-for-trumps-ice-crackdown-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/14\/what-is-it-about-minnesota-that-made-it-a-target-for-trumps-ice-crackdown-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"What is it about Minnesota that made it a target for Trump\u2019s ICE crackdown? – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Since the federal immigration surge began late last year, Minnesotans have offered varying theories for why their state was targeted by the Trump administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a midwestern state that hasn\u2019t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972, including the three times it voted against Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

A strong and growing<\/a> Scandinavian-style social safety net and welcoming culture to immigrants has attracted populations from around the world over the last few generations, including the largest Somali population outside Somalia.<\/p>\n

The state is a refuge for trans people<\/a> and abortion access. It has high levels of civic engagement, regularly ranking at or near the top<\/a> for voter turnout. It is a donor state<\/a>, sending more money to the federal government than it receives. It has higher organized labor<\/a> participation rates than the national average.<\/p>\n

Minneapolis<\/a>, its largest city, ignited the nationwide 2020 protests over police brutality and racism after a police officer killed George Floyd.<\/p>\n

What many explanations boil down to is that <\/strong>Minnesota<\/a> serves as anathema to the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s attacking Minnesota<\/a> because of Minnesota\u2019s virtue,\u201d said Keith Ellison, the state\u2019s attorney general. \u201cWe\u2019re not perfect. You know, we got problems to solve, but the people admit that. When\u2019s the last time you ever heard Trump say that he needed to improve on anything?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Minneapolis<\/a> mayor, Jacob Frey, put it bluntly: \u201cIt\u2019s political retribution,\u201d he told the Guardian. \u201cIt is going after a Democratically run city and a Democratically run state, trying to paint Minneapolis as a place of chaos, when in fact, it\u2019s these ICE agents that have caused it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"a<\/picture><\/div>
<\/svg><\/span>Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis addresses the winter meeting of the US Conference of Mayors on 29 January 2026 in Washington DC. <\/span> Photograph: Alex Wong\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey hate us because we don\u2019t hate each other,\u201d said Marcia Howard, an English teacher and president of the teacher chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Educators.<\/p>\n

Tina Smith, a US senator from Minnesota, said: \u201cThey decided that they could use Minnesota as a proving ground for the worst of their anti-democratic strategies, and so they came at us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the US border czar, Tom Homan, said on Thursday that the operation would wind down, the onslaught on the state not only featured thousands of federal agents but multiple investigations<\/a> into the state\u2019s government<\/a> and attempts<\/a> to withhold<\/a> several streams<\/a> of federal funding. Two US citizens, Renee Good<\/a> and Alex Pretti<\/a>, were killed by agents in the streets, and many more have been injured or hit with chemicals. Thousands of immigrants, including<\/a> small children<\/a>, have been detained. Protesters<\/a> and journalists<\/a> have been arrested and charged, with one protester then mocked<\/a> by the White House in a digitally altered photo. The justice department issued subpoenas<\/a> to several high-ranking officials in the state, suggesting they could face prosecution, while members of Congress have brought some in for questioning.<\/p>\n

Multiple lawsuits allege systemic violations of due process and constitutional rights for immigrants<\/a> and people protesting against agents<\/a>. The economy, especially businesses run by immigrants, has been hit hard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course it\u2019s an authoritarian effort,\u201d said Jason Stanley, a professor at the University of Toronto who left his university in the US<\/a> because of what he saw as rising fascism. \u201cThey\u2019re trying to completely smash the state \u2026 It\u2019s not random, but it is a brutal example to the rest of the United States, saying, we can completely have a military occupation of your city. We can kill your citizens, and there\u2019s nothing you can do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"people<\/picture><\/div>
<\/svg><\/span>People gather during a vigil for Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis on 28 January.<\/span> Photograph: Seth Herald\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When asked why the administration chose to go after Minnesota, the White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said: \u201cThe Trump Administration is enforcing federal immigration law around the country \u2013 with surge operations having occurred in various cities and sanctuary cities. In Minnesota alone, heroic ICE officers removed over 4,000 dangerous criminal illegal aliens from communities. Everyone should be thankful for their work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House\u2019s numbers have not been independently verified. According to the Guardian\u2019s data<\/a>, the majority of people in immigration detention nationwide do not have a criminal history.<\/p>\n

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T<\/span>he Trump administration\u2019s desire for retribution against Minnesota has been clear from the beginning of the surge, local residents and officials said. Though Trump never formally challenged the results of his three losses in Minnesota, he has frequently claimed, without evidence, that he actually won the state each time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe numbers are very clear that he has not won Minnesota in any of the three times that he\u2019s run,\u201d Minnesota\u2019s secretary of state, Steve Simon, told the Guardian. \u201cThat\u2019s not a partisan statement. That\u2019s just what the results show clearly in Minnesota.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s governor, Democrat Tim Walz, ran for vice-president against Trump, who has called Walz \u201ceither the most CORRUPT government official in history, or the most INCOMPETENT\u201d. Much of Minneapolis is represented by Ilhan Omar, a refugee Somali American congresswoman, and Trump has called her a \u201cscammer\u201d who should be denaturalized and deported.<\/p>\n

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\"a<\/picture><\/div>
<\/svg><\/span>Representative Ilhan Omar speaks during a press conference at the Karmel Mall in Minneapolis on 28 January.<\/span> Photograph: Brandon Bell\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Trump\u2019s attention was also brought to Minnesota because of fraud scandals, after rightwing media, including a 23-year-old YouTuber, distorted and expanded on allegations of widespread fraud. Dozens of people who stole from state programs have been convicted, and other prosecutions are still under way.<\/p>\n

The administration was also probably thinking about the optics. While other blue cities saw surges of agents before Minnesota, the influx of thousands of agents could have a much bigger footprint in a smaller, dense urban area like Minneapolis, offering plenty of imagery to an administration focused on flashy videos of deportations with agents roaming the streets in military-style gear.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wanted the image of angry Black people, cowering brown people, and all they got were multicultural hordes of folks with whistles and phones,\u201d Howard, the teacher, said. \u201cThey got Presbyterians singing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin blamed local policies that prevented jails from coordinating with immigration enforcement for the agency\u2019s \u201csignificant footprint\u201d in Minnesota and called the operation in the state a \u201cHUGE victory for public safety\u201d. She also cited the fraud scandals in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Homeland Security Investigators are on the ground in Minneapolis conducting wide scale investigations to get justice for the American people who have been robbed blind,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ellison, who has sued the Trump administration more than 50 times since the start of Trump\u2019s second term, said some Democratic states have bigger populations and larger law enforcement apparatuses, making them harder targets.<\/p>\n

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\"a<\/picture><\/div>
<\/svg><\/span>A federal agent walks through a gate after searching the backyard of a house in a Minneapolis neighborhood on 2 February.<\/span> Photograph: Ryan Murphy\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But the surge into Minnesota wasn\u2019t just about immigration or fraud.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a successful, multiracial, multicultural state that has one of the highest standards of living, that values our people,\u201d Walz offered as a reason why Minnesota became a target at a recent press conference. \u201cMinnesotans are decent, caring, loving neighbors, and they\u2019re also some of the toughest damn people you\u2019ll ever find.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walz\u2019s national reputation grew after 2023, when he and the Democratic-led legislature pushed through a long list of progressive reforms<\/a>, including a statewide paid leave program, protections for reproductive healthcare and stricter gun laws.<\/p>\n

In a letter<\/a> to Walz on 24 January, the attorney general, Pam Bondi, laid out three demands to the state to \u201cbring back law and order to Minnesota\u201d: turning over records on social programs including Medicaid and food assistance so the federal government can investigate, ending any policies that prevent local officials from coordinating with immigration enforcement agents, and handing over the state\u2019s voter rolls to the federal government for inspection.<\/p>\n

Local officials called the letter an attempt to coerce and extort them into falling in line with the federal government, and the letter revealed that the federal government\u2019s interest in the state went well beyond immigration enforcement procedures.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve called that letter a ransom note,\u201d Simon said.<\/p>\n

As to whether it would work \u2013 whether local officials would give in to these demands in order to get federal agents off the streets? \u201cThat\u2019s a hell no,\u201d Ellison said. \u201cNow in the next election, if Minnesotans want somebody to capitulate, they can get them. But I will never quit.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The administration\u2019s choice of a smaller city, with a population ready to activate in response, may have backfired, many residents said.<\/p>\n

\n
\"high<\/picture><\/div>
<\/svg><\/span>People gather during a vigil for Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on 24 January.<\/span> Photograph: Adam Gray\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Larry Jacobs, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota, said the administration probably underestimated the state, but they should have known how its people would respond. The state has high \u201csocial capital\u201d, a measure of community engagement and connection, Jacobs said, which helps explain high voter turnout, high levels of donating and volunteering.<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of Minnesotans learned how to track and observe federal agents. Broad networks helped people throughout the state stay home to avoid interacting with agents, delivering groceries and supplies, dropping off homework for kids attending school virtually, helping with medical needs. They stood outside schools and daycares at drop-offs and dismissals after ICE sightings near these locations. They contributed to rent funds for people who hadn\u2019t worked in months for fear of ICE persecution.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that we woke up to is how strong and proud Minnesotans are of their neighbors,\u201d said Nadia Mohamed, the mayor of St Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis. \u201cThat is one thing I stand 10 toes behind, regardless of what rhetoric that is passed around: Minnesotans are strong, and I\u2019m extremely proud to be Minnesotan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Omar told the Guardian that the Trump administration was \u201cthreatened by communities that refuse to be divided, silenced, or turned against each other\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile \u2018Operation Metro Surge\u2019 showed just how far the administration was willing to go to terrorize Black, brown and immigrant communities in our state, Minnesotans did not back down in the fight against authoritarianism,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Frey, the Minneapolis mayor, recently addressed<\/a> the US Conference of Mayors, warning other cities that what happened to Minnesota could come for them, but that they couldn\u2019t avoid it by cowering from the federal government.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t bow your head in despair, hoping that you won\u2019t attract attention, thinking that if you simply don\u2019t speak out or don\u2019t speak up, then you can avoid some sort of federal action that creates chaos on your streets,\u201d Frey told the Guardian.<\/p>\n

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\"people<\/picture><\/div>
<\/svg><\/span>People attend a vigil where Alex Pretti was shot and killed in Minneapolis, on 28 January.<\/span> Photograph: Adam Gray\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Still, as much as the surge served as a way for anti-ICE protesters and rapid responders to build up processes and networks, it served as a training ground for ICE and the federal government, warned Stanley, the professor who studies fascism. Agents may leave Minnesota, but they will go elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the beginning,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s so shocking in the beginning, but everyone then gets used to the shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Smith contributed to this report<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since the federal immigration surge began late last year, Minnesotans have offered varying theories for why their state was targeted by the Trump administration. It\u2019s a midwestern state that hasn\u2019t voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972, including the three times it voted against Donald Trump. A strong and growing Scandinavian-style social safety net […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}