2,000 federal agents are being deployed to Minneapolis in an escalated immigration push. Here’s what we know
By Danya Gainor, Priscilla Alvarez, CNN
(CNN) — Around 2,000 federal agents are being deployed to Minneapolis as part of the Trump administration’s latest effort to crack down on immigration, two law enforcement officials told CNN, while the city and its officials are reeling from a welfare fraud scandal that’s reaching a fever pitch this week.
In the days since a conservative content creator raised allegations of fraud in a YouTube video – with little evidence – about Somali-run day care centers in Minneapolis, the Trump administration has frozen federal child care funds and unleashed more biting rhetoric against the Somali community, whom President Donald Trump has previously called “garbage.”
Now, the president is stepping up immigration enforcement. Federal agents have already been on the ground in Minneapolis, and both Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and US Border Patrol agents are deploying to Minnesota.
Agents in Minneapolis on Monday arrested more than 150 people accused of being in the country illegally, the Department of Homeland Security said in a Tuesday release. The release highlighted nearly a dozen detainees that DHS called the “worst of the worst,” with charges like homicide, robbery and probation violation; none of the highlighted detainees were Somali.
DHS posted an edited video to X Tuesday showing Secretary Kristi Noem following armed agents into a three-story building in St. Paul and arresting a suspect they said was an illegal immigrant wanted for murder. Noem, wearing a Homeland Security Investigations tactical vest, was surrounded by uniformed officers with Secret Service identification.
US Customs and Border Protection Commander Gregory Bovino, whose controversial tactics have come under increased scrutiny in multiple cities, is also expected to deploy to Minneapolis.
“The war that’s being waged against Minnesota, you’re seeing it,” Gov. Tim Walz said at a Tuesday news conference. “We have a ridiculous surge of apparently 2,000 people not coordinating with us that are for a show of the cameras.”
Uncertainty is sweeping Minnesota’s largest city as the fraud allegations prompt shakeups in local leadership, and a new, ambiguous immigration enforcement effort intimidating Somali residents has emerged. Here’s what we know.
Deployment comes as Walz drops reelection bid
The mobilization of more agents to Minneapolis comes as Walz, a Democrat who has been staunchly opposed to Trump’s deployment of troops to US cities, dropped out of the race for reelection on Monday.
The welfare-fraud scandal in his state has intensified into a political flashpoint seized upon by Trump, and its deepening federal probe complicated Walz’s bid for an unprecedented third term. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but Republicans have sought to blame Walz and Democrats for abuse of taxpayer dollars.
It was the recent criticism from the Trump administration and right-wing allies that Walz said contributed to his decision not to seek reelection.
“This is a concerted effort to try to destroy the president’s opponents, to destroy the rule of law, and it became apparent to me that he was going to do that with me being there,” Walz said Tuesday.
Walz had been criticized for his administration’s oversight of the welfare programs. Several Democrats in the state privately cautioned Walz against seeking reelection as outrage intensified in Minnesota and beyond over the misuse of funds.
“Have I been perfect in this? God-dang, no,” Walz said. “I wasn’t perfect as a teacher. I wasn’t perfect as a coach. I wasn’t perfect as a solider, but I was pretty damn good at all those things, and I am committed to getting this right.”
The governor committed to serve out the rest of his current term, which ends a year from now.
“You can make all your requests for me to resign over my dead body,” he said.
Pushback anticipated over familiar ICE operation targeting Somalis
The 2,000-agent surge isn’t the first instance in which federal immigration authorities have targeted the Twin Cities. In December, following Trump’s disparaging comments about Somalis and calls for them to leave the country, federal agents arrived in Minneapolis and St. Paul as part of the president’s wide-spanning deportation campaign.
The operation sparked fear and anxiety for the area’s Somali community, the vast majority of whom are US citizens. Nearly 58% of Somalis in Minnesota were born in the US, according to the US Census Bureau. Of the foreign-born Somalis in Minnesota, an overwhelming majority — 87% — are naturalized US citizens.
The previous ICE operation sparked protests and tense standoffs with agents. In one incident that drew criticism from the Minneapolis police chief, an agent knelt on a woman’s back as she lay atop a snow bank and then tried to drag her to a car. The episode took place just a few miles from where George Floyd was killed by a city police officer kneeling on his neck in 2020.
Americans of Somali descent told CNN they started carrying their passports and ID cards with them, scared they would be stopped by federal agents.
This time around, DHS said it has run into trouble booking hotel rooms in Minneapolis for newly mobilized agents. It alleged that global hotel chain Hilton launched a “coordinated campaign” to refuse service to agents by cancelling their room reservations in Minneapolis as the agency readies for escalated immigration enforcement there.
Screenshots DHS posted on X on Monday afternoon appear to show emails from a Hilton address stating that immigration agents are not allowed to stay at the Hampton Inn Lakeville property, located in a suburb south of Minneapolis.
“After further investigation online, we have found information about immigration work connected with your name and we will be cancelling your upcoming reservation. You should see a proper cancellation email in your inbox shortly from Hilton,” one email reads.
The Lakeville Hilton property is independently owned and operated by Everpeak Hospitality, which said in a statement on its website that the incident “was inconsistent with our policy of being a welcoming place for all,” and that it is “in touch with the impacted guests to ensure they are accommodated.”
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin rejected that statement, writing on X Monday evening that DHS and ICE haven’t heard from Everpeak Hospitality.
Hilton itself, in an initial statement Monday, emphasized that the independently owned and operated hotel’s actions “were not reflective of Hilton values.”
On Tuesday Hilton issued a new statement, saying it had further concerns that the Lakeview Hilton property was “not meeting our standards,” and Hilton was therefore taking “immediate action” to remove the hotel from its system.
“Hilton is – and has always been – a welcoming place for all. We are also engaging with all of our franchisees to reinforce the standards we hold them to across our system to help ensure this does not happen again,” Hilton’s Tuesday statement said.
Friday deadline looms amid frozen child care payments
On December 30, Department of Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill announced the agency was freezing all child care payments to Minnesota amid the fraud allegations. The state typically receives about $185 million annually in federal child care funding, supporting care for 19,000 children.
Investigators last week visited all of the child care centers accused of fraud in the video, and all were operating as expected, state officials say. Still, investigations into alleged wrongdoing are ongoing.
The state Department of Children, Youth, and Families announced Monday it would conduct additional on-site compliance checks at child care centers across the state.
“Funds will be released only when states prove they are being spent legitimately,” O’Neill said. He said he had demanded Walz provide a “comprehensive audit” of the centers featured in the video.
The proof must be shared with the government by Friday, according to an email from state officials to child care providers. The email said HHS has requested specific details, including the total amount of Child Care and Development Fund payments received by five child care centers and administrative data – like names and social security numbers – for all recipients of federal money.
The fund is the main source of federal support for child care and includes the state Child Care Assistance Program, which Nick Shirley, the creator of the viral video, alleged was being exploited in Minnesota.
In the meantime, thousands of Minnesota families who rely on federal child care funding are in limbo. It is unclear how quickly funding could be restored if the state meets the Friday deadline.
The Trump administration also announced a plan to audit all of Minnesota’s Medicaid bills Tuesday.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said the agency sent a letter to Walz notifying him of the audit.
“We have just sent a letter to Gov. Walz alerting him to something he probably fears and should have taken action in a timely manner to avoid: We are auditing all of the Medicaid bills, in particular for the 14 programs that he and his own administration have admitted were problems,” Oz said on Fox News.
CNN has reached out to CMS, HHS and Walz’s office for comment.
Trump has a long history with Minnesota, Somali community
The child care fraud scandal has reignited the president’s persistent hostility toward Somalis. For years, he has attacked Somalis living in the US, Somalia itself, and Somali leaders like Rep. Ilhan Omar, who he has said should not be allowed to serve in Congress.
Somalia was also on the travel ban list during Trump’s first presidential term. Under the Obama administration, several Muslim-majority nations, including Somalia, were identified as “countries of concern” and subject to travel restrictions. Somalia had been added to address “the growing threat from foreign terrorist fighters,” according to a DHS statement. When Trump took office, the restrictions turned into a travel ban.
He continued the attacks Sunday when asked about the Minnesota fraud scandal, insulting Omar and going on a tangent about Somali pirates, while criticizing “astronomical” theft of government funds.
“What he’s doing to the Somali community is absolutely unconscionable,” Walz said Tuesday.
Somalis and their advocates point out the small group of people charged with fraud doesn’t reflect their thousands-strong community.
Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Minnesota chapter, says there’s a clear motif when isolated instances of wrongdoing are used to scapegoat an entire population.
“Each time, the same pattern emerges: isolate a case, generalize it to an entire group, and use fear to legitimize discrimination,” Hussein said.
“The Somali community in the Twin Cities is overwhelmingly made up of hardworking families, small business owners, health care workers, students, and taxpayers who contribute every day to Minnesota’s economy and civic life,” he said.
Allegations reach halls of Congress this week
The fraud allegations will reach new heights in the halls of Congress this week as Minnesota state lawmakers are set to testify in Washington, DC, on Wednesday before the Republican-led US House Oversight Committee.
The hearing, focused on “fraud and misuse of federal funds,” will feature testimony from three Republican members of the Minnesota House of Representatives who, the chairman of the Oversight Committee says, “sounded the alarm” on the fraud: Kristin Robbins, Walter Hudson and Marion Rarick.
James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, invited Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to testify in a separate hearing before the committee’s investigative panel on February 10, saying the governor “ignored” warnings of fraud from the state lawmakers.
“He better lawyer up,” Comer wrote on X.
“Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison have either been asleep at the wheel or complicit in a massive fraud involving taxpayer dollars in Minnesota’s social services programs,” Comer said in the statement.
In his Tuesday news conference, Walz said those allegations have to be backed with evidence.
“If they have emails showing that I have committed fraud, you should get those. Why aren’t they putting them out there?” said Walz. “Why aren’t they turning over to prosecutors? Right now they are hiding behind a veil of innuendo. They’re protecting the biggest fraudster in the White House.”
“Whatever it is, I bug the crap out of Donald Trump,” he added.
CNN’s Zoe Sottile, Emma Tucker, Rebekah Riess, Andy Rose, Jeff Zeleny and Kit Maher contributed to this report.
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