WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has launched what officials describe as the largest federal immigration enforcement operation ever carried out, preparing to deploy as many as 2,000 federal agents and officers to the Minneapolis area for a sweeping crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.

The surge dramatically expands the federal law enforcement footprint in Minnesota amid heightened political and community tensions. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons, during an interview with Newsmax, called the crackdown the agency’s “largest immigration operation ever.”

READ MORE: Noem says Homeland Security is investigating fraud in Minneapolis

Neither Lyons nor Department of Homeland Security Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said how many officers were involved.

A person briefed on the operation told The Associated Press the Department of Homeland Security plans to dispatch as many as 2,000 officers to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss operational details and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Immigrant rights groups and elected officials in the Twin Cities reported a sharp increase Tuesday in sightings of federal agents, notably around St. Paul. Numerous agents’ vehicles were reported making traffic stops, outside area businesses and apartment buildings.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was also present and accompanied ICE officers during at least one arrest. A video posted on X showed Noem wearing a tactical vest and knit cap as agents arrested a man in St. Paul. In the video, she tells the handcuffed man: “You will be held accountable for your crimes.”

READ MORE: What to know about Trump administration freezing federal child care funds

The Department of Homeland Security said in a news release that the man was from Ecuador and was wanted in his homeland and Connecticut on charges including murder and sexual assault. It said agents arrested 150 people Monday in enforcement actions in Minneapolis.

Minnesota governor blasts surge

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, criticized the federal enforcement surge as “a war that’s being waged against Minnesota.”

“You’re seeing that we have a ridiculous surge of apparently 2,000 people not coordinating with us, that are for a show of cameras,” Walz told reporters in Minneapolis on Tuesday, a day after announcing he was ending his campaign for a third term.

WATCH: Fraud scandals and Trump’s rhetoric escalate fears in Minnesota’s Somali community

Many residents were already on edge. The Trump administration has singled out the area’s Somali community, the largest in the U.S. Last month, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara criticized federal agents for using “questionable methods” following a confrontation between agents and protesters.

Molly Coleman, a St. Paul City Council member whose district includes a manufacturing plant where agents arrested more than a dozen people in November, said Tuesday was “unlike any other day we’ve experienced.”

“It’s incredibly distressing,” Coleman said. “What we know happens when ICE comes into a city, it’s an enforcement in which every single person is on guard and afraid.”

Julia Decker, policy director at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, said there had been an increase in sightings of federal agents and enforcement vehicles in locations like parking lots.

“We can definitely a feel a heavier presence,” said Dieu Do, an organizer with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, which dispatches response teams to reports of agents.

Surge includes investigators focused on fraud allegations

Roughly three-quarters of the enforcement personnel are expected to come from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, which carries out immigration arrests and deportations, said the person with knowledge of the operation. The force also includes agents from Homeland Security Investigations, ICE’s investigative arm, which typically focuses on fraud and cross-border criminal networks.

HSI agents were going door-to-door in the Twin Cities area investigating allegations of fraud, human smuggling and unlawful employment practices, Lyons said.

The HSI agents are largely expected to concentrate on identifying suspected fraud, while deportation officers will conduct arrests of immigrants accused of violating immigration law, according to the person briefed on the operation. Specialized tactical units are also expected to be involved.

The operation also includes personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, the person familiar with the deployment said. Bovino’s tactics during previous federal operations in other cities have drawn scrutiny from local officials and civil rights advocates.

Hilton drops Minnesota hotel that canceled agents’ reservations

Hilton said in a statement Tuesday that it was removing a Minnesota hotel from its systems for “not meeting our standards and values” when it denied service to federal agents.

The Hampton Inn Lakeville hotel, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) outside Minneapolis, apologized Monday for canceling the reservations of federal agents, saying it would work to accommodate them. The hotel, like the majority of Hampton Inns, is owned and operated by a franchisee.

The Hampton Inn Lakeville did not respond to requests for comment.

Federal authorities began increasing immigration arrests in the Minneapolis area late last year. Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel announced last week that federal agencies were intensifying operations in Minnesota, with an emphasis on fraud investigations.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly linked his administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota to fraud cases involving federal nutrition and pandemic aid programs, many of which have involved defendants with roots in Somalia.

The person with information about the current operation cautioned that its scope and duration could shift in the coming days as it develops.

Balsamo reported from New York. AP journalists Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis, Sophia Tareen in Chicago and Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this story.

Minneapolis has seen a significant decrease in shooting victims in the 4th Precinct, marking the lowest numbers since 2008.

Police data from 2025 shows a notable reduction in violent crime, including a drop in homicides by more than half compared to 2024 and The number of people shot decreased from 132 to 91. 

The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) confirming the lowest number of shooting victims in North Minneapolis since 2008.

Elham Elzhgby from Hook Fish & Chicken on West Broadway said, “Any problem is gone, I see that,” Elzhgby added, “No trouble, no problem this last year. Year before, [there] was a lot of [problems].”

In a news conference in March, Mayor Jacob Frey and police chief Brian O’Hara touted a decade-low rate of gun violence to start the year. 

https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/north-minneapolis-seeing-decade-low-rate-of-gun-violence-community-playing-big-role/

He and Police Chief Brian O’Hara highlighted the importance of community partnerships in reducing gun violence. “This is a direct result of the pride on the Northside that the residents have – stepping up, stepping in, and supporting the police officers that are there,” O’Hara said in March.

Citywide, both shootings and homicides have seen significant declines. In his inauguration speech, Mayor Frey credited the increase in police officers and reform efforts for these improvements.

A Minneapolis woman is being recognized with a national lifesaving award after rescuing a toddler who slipped into Bde Maka Ska last Mother’s Day.

Karmen Black, a licensed social worker and Minneapolis resident, received the Heroic Act Award from the United States Lifesaving Association on Monday during a ceremony at Minneapolis Fire Station 5. The award is the highest honor the organization gives to a bystander who is not a lifeguard or first responder.

The rescue happened while Black was walking around the lake with a friend.

“I love walking the lake,” Black said. “We had went around once, and then I convinced my friend to, ‘let’s go around a second time.’”

During the second lap, Black noticed a man walking ahead with his children. One child, she said, was trailing far behind.

“There was a third child lagging behind. I would say, like 30 yards behind him,” Black said. “And I said, ‘Gosh, he’s pretty far behind his father, especially to be so close to the lake.”

Moments later, the situation escalated.

“The little boy turned,” Black said. “He literally turned and saw the water. Eyes lit up, and I said to my friend, ‘No, he’s not going to.’ And he a-lined to the lake and just threw himself.”

Black said the location made the situation especially dangerous.

“If the father would have turned and looked down the path, just because of the way of the incline going down to the lake, he would have never known his son was literally over the edge, drowning,” she said.

Black ran into the water fully clothed and pulled the child out. The boy was reunited with his father moments later and was not seriously hurt.

Minneapolis Interim Fire Chief Melanie Rucker said Black’s quick action prevented a much more serious emergency.

“With Carmen’s quick thinking and reaction, that saved a life,” Rucker said. “That saved a rescue that we didn’t even have to respond to.”

Dr. Ayanna Rakhu, founder of Sankofa Swim International, presented the award and said the rescue highlights how quickly drowning incidents can happen.

“Drowning happens quickly and it happens silently,” Rakhu said. “Awareness is a big thing.”

Rakhu said the incident underscores the importance of swim education not just for children, but for adults as well.

“It’s important for kids and adults, and parents and aunts and uncles to learn how to swim,” she said. “Because we end up in these situations.”

Black said the experience stayed with her long after the rescue.

“I was traumatized for like a month,” she said, adding that she goes to the lakes almost every day in the summer.

Despite the national recognition, Black said she does not see herself as extraordinary.

“I just feel like this should be normal,” she said. “You would hope that this is just what anybody would do.”