ICE in Minnesota – Days 47-50: DOJ Probes State Leaders, ICE Continues Illegal Detainments, Unions Call for General Strike

Minneapolis, MN — Following a weekend of protests against far-right agitators who have flocked to Minnesota in recent days, the Twin Cities continue to deal with the ever-evolving nature of the federal occupation unfolding in the region.

Saturday saw thousands come out to oppose far-right extremists and defend their communities. On Sunday, four Black Christian women led a protest of a pastor who heads the local ICE field office, sparking backlash from conservative white Christians and the federal government. Meanwhile, the federal and state governments elevated troop readiness to potentially deploy to the state in response to ongoing resistance to ICE operations.

Below is a brief summary of some of the important events surrounding ICE activity that have happened over the last several days in and around the Twin Cities.

January 20: Day 50

Labor unions call for general strike on Jan. 23 — As many as 12 separate unions and a total of 90 organizations across a variety of sectors are calling for a general strike Friday, according to Labor Notes. They encourage everyone in the Twin Cities and beyond to abstain from work, school and business for the day to exercise their power through withholding economic participation. Under the banner “ICE Out of MN: A Day of Truth and Freedom” the organizations are pushing for ICE to stop their operations in Minnesota, for the officer who killed Renee Good to be held accountable, and for a halt to more federal funding for ICE, as reported by Labor Notes. The weather on Jan. 23 is forecast as around -12 degrees Fahrenheit currently.

DOJ subpoenas Minnesota Gov. Walz, Minnesota Attorney General Ellison, Minneapolis Mayor Frey, Saint Paul Mayor Her, and two other officials — The federal government continues their soft war on Minnesota by serving six grand jury subpoenas to the state’s top elected officials to investigate claims they’ve impeded or obstructed federal agents since the federal occupation of the state started. News of this incoming was first reported last Friday.

Kristi Noem announces 10,000 arrested immigrants in MN — The DHS secretary took to social media Monday to boast about the detentions since ICE enforcement operations intensified in Minnesota 50 days ago. The DHS released a press statement touting 3,000 immigrant arrests since “Operation Metro Surge” began in December. Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council Aaron Reichlin-Melnick raised doubts about Noem’s 10,000 arrests claim, however, calling the numbers “highly inflated” and “very likely false” on social media, The Hill reported. Border Patrol czar Greg Bovino claimed that the 10,000 number is the amount of people in the U.S. illegally that have been arrested in Minnesota in the past year.

Minnesota law enforcement hold press conference, claim ICE is racially profiling off-duty police and pulling them over — “We’re calling to action that we have more supervision over the surge, that these types of civil rights violations have to stop,” said Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley during a press conference on Tuesday with law enforcement leaders from the across the metro. Bruley said that Brooklyn Park officers have been racially profiled and pulled over while off duty. Local law enforcement claim they’ve been working hard to repair the damages they’ve caused residents from their policing of local communities, and federal agents are eroding that growth. They called for more professionalism and accountability from federal agents. Watch the presser as filmed live by MPR.

Activists hold press conference to denounce investigation into church protest — “Investigate Jonathan Ross,” said Nekima Levy Armstrong, rather than investigating activists who were denouncing a pastor who leads a local ICE field office. Armstrong was one of the organizers of the protest (more below). She is now being attacked by right-wing media and reportedly under investigation for the protest. She was among a slew of activists who spoke during a press conference at the Hennepin County Government Center on Tuesday afternoon. Watch the press conference via KingDemetrius Pendleton.

January 19: Day 49

More than 3,000 arrests in Minneapolis area, per DHS — The Department of Homeland Security claims to have made more than 3,000 arrests in the Twin Cities since the beginning of Operation Metro Surge in December 2025, according to CBS News.

DOJ threatens charges against Don Lemon, protesters after church service disruption — The Justice Department “will pursue charges” against protesters who appeared at Cities Church in St. Paul during Sunday service, DOJ Civil Rights Division Chief Harmeet Dhillon said in an interview with right-wing influencer Benny Johnson, according to NBC News. Dhillon specifically singled out Don Lemon for criminal conspiracy charges for having knowledge of the protest before it happened, saying about Lemon, “he went into the facility, and then he began — quote, unquote — ‘committing journalism,’ as if that’s sort of a shield from being a part, an embedded part, of a criminal conspiracy. It isn’t.”

ICE agents shouted out of restaurant, abandon car, come back with weapons — On Monday night, federal agents spotted by observers quickly left the Darbar Indian Grill in Uptown Minneapolis. The agents abandoned their car, which was then watched after by the observers. A short time later, the agents gathered up and came back to the scene with weapons drawn on dozens of community defenders to retrieve their car. See video of the incident by Joi Lee.

January 18: Day 48

FBI requests more agents deploy to Minneapolis — The agency has requested volunteer relocations of agents from field offices across the country. Though the role they would play in the region is unclear. A source told NBC Sunday that agents would be tasked with investigating “AFO,” or assault on federal officers, cases.

Protesters disrupt service at church where pastor is ICE leader — Community members interrupted service on Sunday at Cities Church in St. Paul where they say David Easterwood, the acting director of the St. Paul ICE Field Office, is a pastor, according to coverage of the protest by Georgia Fort. Protesters interrupted the sermon demanding that ICE leave the cities and the church be accountable for it’s leadership’s involvement with ICE.

ICE arrest an elderly Hmong-American citizen at his St. Paul home — Federal immigration agents broke down the door of a St. Paul home and arrested an elderly man at gunpoint, walking him outside in below zero weather wearing only his underwear, supposedly under the false belief that he was not a citizen. See Georgia Fort’s reporting on this and read the report from Pioneer Press.

ICE illegally detains St. Paul Public Works employee — A man who was legally authorized to work in the United States was detained by federal immigration agents outside of a worksite in St. Paul, according to Fox 9 News. The man — who reportedly has a severe medical condition that requires strict medication and diet — was first sent to the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis before being transferred to a detention facility in El Paso, Texas.

Victor Manuel Diaz, captured by ICE in Minneapolis, dies in Texas — The 36-year-old man was found dead inside the ICE detention center near El Paso called Camp East Montana on January 14, ICE announced Sunday. A Nicaraguan immigrant, Manuel Diaz was taken into ICE custody in Minneapolis on Jan. 6. He was found dead just over a week later in the privately-contracted detention center. A statement from ICE presumes the death was caused by suicide. No details were provided.

January 17: Day 47

1,500 active duty soldiers on standby to deploy to Minnesota — Saturday, a defense official told CBS News that the troops, who would be pulled from the 11th Airborne Division staged in Alaska, may be brought in to respond to ongoing protests against ICE.

Jake Lang and company chased out of Minneapolis — Saturday, thousands showed up to counter right-wing influencer and aspiring politician Jake Lang, who scheduled a rally against immigrants targeting the largely Somali neighborhood of Cedar Riverside. Community members confronted Lang, alongside other right wing pundits and ran him out of area. See our video and report below.

Far-Right Provocateur Jake Lang Chased Out of Minneapolis During Hate Rally

DHS X account deletes post blaming Minneapolis family tear-gassed by federal agents — While deploying tear gas in a residential neighborhood last Wednesday night, federal agents threw a bomb under one family’s truck, causing the airbags to deploy and the truck to fill with gas. Six children who were in the truck required hospitalization, according to Bring Me The News. DHS originally claimed that the family brought their children to a protest. The family was only driving through the neighborhood until they were blocked by federal agents.

St. Paul woman, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, was beaten and held by ICE for two days before being released with no charges — Nasra Ahmed was detained by ICE agents in the parking lot of her apartment complex on Jan. 14. She was beaten and held by federal authorities for two days. She was held in a cell in the Whipple Federal Building with an Indigenous American woman who was also a citizen. After being released last Friday, she shared her story, see Frederick Melo’s spotlight on Ahmed.

Watch Unicorn Riot’s newly published video from the massive rally on Saturday, Jan. 10.