![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/a-federal-immigration-officer-deploys-pepper-spray-as-office-DEZELVNUBRH6BAGCFYOH2VVN5A.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWork starts around sunrise for many of the American federal officers carrying out the immigration crackdown in and around the Twin Cities, with hundreds of people in tactical gear emerging from a bland office building near the main airport.<\/p>\n
Within minutes, hulking SUVs, pickup trucks and minivans begin leaving, forming the unmarked convoys that have quickly become feared and common sights in the streets of Minneapolis, St. Paul and their suburbs.<\/p>\n
Protesters also arrive early, braving the cold to stand across the street from the fenced-in federal compound, which houses an immigration court and government offices. <\/p>\n
\u201cGo home!\u201d they shout as convoys roar past. “ICE out!\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Things often turn uglier after nightfall, when the convoys return and the protesters sometimes grow angrier, shaking fences and occasionally smacking passing cars. <\/p>\n
Eventually, the federal officers march toward them, firing tear gas and flash grenades before hauling away at least a few people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going anywhere!\u201d a woman shouted on a recent morning. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re here until you leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the daily rhythm of Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s latest and biggest crackdown yet, with more than 2000 officers taking part. <\/p>\n
The surge has pitted city and state officials against the federal government, sparked daily clashes between activists and immigration officers in the deeply liberal cities, and left a mother of three dead.<\/p>\n
The crackdown is barely noticeable in some areas, particularly in whiter, wealthier neighbourhoods and suburbs, where convoys and tear gas are rare. <\/p>\n
![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/people-shout-toward-border-patrol-agents-making-an-arrest-in-3JRWUZTWGVFORKOKMUMP25OTHU.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest in Minneapolis. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
And even in neighbourhoods where masked immigration officers are common, they often move with ghostlike quickness, making arrests and disappearing before protesters can gather in force.<\/p>\n
Still, the surge can be felt across broad swaths of the Twin Cities area, which is home to more than three million people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t use the word \u2018invasion\u2019 lightly,\u201d Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, told reporters this week, noting that his police force has just 600 officers. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we are seeing is thousands \u2014 plural, thousands \u2014 of federal agents coming into our city.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those agents have an outsized presence in a small city.<\/p>\n
It can take hours to drive across Los Angeles and Chicago, both targets of Trump administration crackdowns. It can take 15 minutes to cross Minneapolis.<\/p>\n
![\"Teyana](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/teyana-gibson-brown-right-wife-of-garrison-gibson-reacts-aft-MBZWY5OM75E4ZKOPM3EQOVLOFA.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Teyana Gibson Brown, right, wife of Garrison Gibson, reacts after federal immigration officers arrested Garrison Gibson, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
So as worry ripples through the region, children are skipping school or learning remotely, families are avoiding religious services and many businesses, especially in immigrant neighbourhoods, have closed temporarily.<\/p>\n
Drive down Lake Street, an immigrant hub since the days when newcomers came to Minneapolis from Norway and Sweden, and the sidewalks now seem crowded only with activists standing watch, ready to blow warning whistles at the first sign of a convoy.<\/p>\n
At La Michoacana Purepecha, where customers can order ice cream, chocolate-covered bananas and pork rinds, the door is locked and staff let in people one at a time. <\/p>\n
Nearby, at Taqueria Los Ocampo, a sign in English and Spanish says the restaurant is temporarily closed because of \u201ccurrent conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
A dozen blocks away at the Karmel Mall, where the city\u2019s large Somali community goes for everything from food and coffee to tax preparation, signs on the doors warn, \u201cNo ICE enter without court order.\u201d<\/p>\n
Protests clash with law enforcement after immigration agent shot and killed mother-of-three Renee Good.\u00a0 (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
The shadow of George Floyd<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been nearly six years since George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, but the scars from that killing remain raw.<\/p>\n
Floyd was killed just blocks from where an Immigration and Citizenship Enforcement officer shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old American citizen, during a January 7 confrontation after she stopped to help neighbours during an enforcement operation. <\/p>\n
Federal officials say the officer fired in self-defence after Good \u201cweaponised\u201d her vehicle. <\/p>\n
City and state officials dismiss those explanations and point to multiple bystander videos of the confrontation.<\/p>\n
For Twin Cities residents, the crackdown can feel overwhelming.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough is enough,\u201d said Johan Baumeister, who came to the scene of Good\u2019s death soon after the shooting to lay flowers.<\/p>\n
He said he didn\u2019t want to see the violent protests that shook Minneapolis after Floyd\u2019s death, causing billions of dollars in damage. But this city has a long history of activism and protests, and he had no doubt there would be more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019ll see Minneapolis show our rage again,\u201d he predicted.<\/p>\n
He was right.<\/p>\n
In the days since, there have been repeated confrontations between activists and immigration officers. <\/p>\n
Most amounted to little more than shouted insults and taunting, with destruction mostly limited to broken windows, graffiti and some badly damaged federal vehicles.<\/p>\n
But angry clashes now flare regularly across the Twin Cities.<\/p>\n
Some protesters clearly want to provoke the federal officers, throwing snowballs at them or screaming obscenities through bullhorns from just a couple feet away. <\/p>\n
The serious force, though, comes from immigration officers, who have broken car windows, pepper-sprayed protesters and warned observers not to follow them through the streets. <\/p>\n
Immigrants and citizens have been yanked from cars and homes and detained, sometimes for days. And most clashes end in tear gas.<\/p>\n
Drivers in Minneapolis or St Paul can now stumble across intersections blocked by men in body armour and gas masks, with helicopters clattering overhead and the air filled with the shriek of protesters’ whistles.<\/p>\n
Shovel your neighbour\u2019s walk<\/p>\n
In a state that prides itself on its decency, there\u2019s something particularly Minnesotan about the protests,<\/p>\n
Soon after Good was shot, state governor Tim Walz, a Democrat and regular Trump target, repeatedly said he was angry but also urged people to find ways to help their communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might be shovelling your neighbour\u2019s walk,\u201d he said. \u201cIt might mean being at a food bank. It might be pausing to talk to someone you haven\u2019t talked to before.\u201d<\/p>\n
He and other leaders have pleaded with protesters to remain peaceful, warning that the White House was looking for a chance to crack down harder.<\/p>\n
And when protests do become clashes, residents will often spill from their homes, handing out bottled water so people can flush tear gas from their eyes.<\/p>\n
Residents stand watch at schools to warn immigrant parents if convoys approach while they’re picking up their children. <\/p>\n
They take care packages to people too afraid to go out, and arrange rides for them to work and doctor’s visits.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, in the basement of a Lutheran church in St. Paul, the group Open Market MN assembled food packs for more than a hundred families staying home. Colin Anderson, the group\u2019s outreach director, said the group has seen a surge in requests.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, people don\u2019t even understand what has happened to them.<\/p>\n
Like Christian Molina from suburban Coon Rapids, who was driving through a Minneapolis neighbourhood on a recent day, taking his car to a mechanic, when immigration officers began following him. He wonders if it’s because he looks Hispanic.<\/p>\n
They turned on their siren, but Molina kept driving, unsure who they were.<\/p>\n
Eventually, the officers sped up, hit his rear bumper and both cars stopped. <\/p>\n
Two emerged and asked Molina for his papers. He refused, saying he\u2019d wait for the police. Crowds began to gather, and a clash soon broke out, ending with tear gas.<\/p>\n
So the officers left.<\/p>\n
They left behind an angry, worried man who suddenly owned a sedan with a mangled rear fender.<\/p>\n
Long after the officers were gone he had one final question.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s going to pay for my car?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Work starts around sunrise for many of the American federal officers carrying out the immigration crackdown in and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[65,42,43,64,40,38,41,39,66],"class_list":["post-238888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-us-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}