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Over the weekend, the Department of Homeland Security 

announced additional arrests by federal agents

 of people they say are in the country without legal status. The announcement came amid what advocates describe as a sharp and fast-moving escalation in enforcement activity across Minnesota.

Federal officials have so far confirmed 19 arrests tied to recent operations. But the agency has not disclosed the total number of people who may have been detained, leaving advocates, community members, and local officials uncertain about how broad or sustained the federal activity has been. Much of the reported enforcement appears to be concentrated in the Twin Cities, though groups say alerts are increasingly coming from surrounding suburbs as well.

Immigrant-rights groups across Minnesota say they’re being flooded with tips from residents reporting suspected ICE activity in their neighborhoods. Many describe the pace as unlike anything they’ve experienced in years.

Erika Zurawski, co-founder of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee — or MIRAC — said messages have been pouring in at all hours, sometimes only minutes apart. During an interview with MPR News, her phone buzzed repeatedly with incoming alerts from community members.

One message she received during the conversation read:

“A blue Ford SUV with two men wearing face masks, military-style jackets, no license plate, parked mid-block. Engine running for 60 minutes. 27 block of 13th Avenue South,” she added. “So yes, yes, we are getting alerts in real time.”

Zurawski, who helped found MIRAC nearly 20 years ago, says these alerts can be hard to verify because federal agents often move quickly and discreetly. The organization relies heavily on neighborhood networks to confirm what’s happening, documenting what they can while trying to connect with families who may suddenly lose a parent or breadwinner.

“It is definitely more often than not that by the time we can get observers to the scene, they (federal officers) are gone,” she said. 

In those cases, MIRAC depends on witnesses.

“There’s a neighbor who knows which apartment they lived in, whether their wife and kids are still inside, who knows their name. We’re able to talk to neighbors to understand what happened and to assess the situation.”

COPAL, another major immigrant-rights group in Minnesota, is seeing similar patterns.

Organizing Director Ryan Perez says his team typically learns of enforcement actions within minutes, crediting a growing network of local residents trained to recognize potential ICE operations. In more prolonged situations — such as multi-hour raids — Perez says his team often hears about arrests or raids within minutes.

“When there is a raid that is a multi-hour operation, we often get word of it within the first 10 minutes, and we communicate to trained constitutional observers who are ready to document.”

That network includes more than 2,500 trained volunteers across Minnesota and South Dakota. Many of them are prepared to show up as observers, document interactions between agents and residents, or help families understand their rights.

But even with that large volunteer base, the recent volume of alerts is stretching teams thin.

“It certainly feels like in the last month there have been more and more of these situations,” Perez said. “But let’s not be confused — these raids, detentions, and deportations were always happening. They were happening before Trump.”

Zurawski echoes that the operations are not new, saying her group has tracked ICE activity across multiple presidential administrations.

“[Under] The Obama administration, definitely, we saw a lot of ICE activity as well. MIRAC is very clear that Democrats and Republicans alike are part of the same deportation machine, and that having a Democrat in power doesn’t protect immigrants or keep them safe.”

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While deportations themselves have been a constant, advocacy groups say the tone and rhetoric from the current administration stand out. They argue that the messaging feels more pointed, more aggressive, and more directly aimed at immigrant communities. Immigration attorneys have also pointed out that enforcement appears more forceful, with agents conducting rapid, coordinated operations that give families little time to respond. 

To many community members, they say, the combination of stepped-up activity, faster-moving operations, and sharper language has created a heightened sense of fear and uncertainty.

With alerts outpacing their capacity to respond to each one, both MIRAC and COPAL say they’re focusing on long-term community support. That includes Know Your Rights trainings, assistance for families whose income is suddenly disrupted after an arrest, and broader planning to help neighborhoods prepare if operations expand.

Both groups say they expect enforcement activity — and community anxiety — to continue climbing in the weeks ahead unless federal agencies provide more transparency about what these operations involve, how long they will last, and who is being targeted.

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Sarah Thamer

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Minnesota immigrant-rights groups say they’re being inundated with alerts as ICE steps up arrests and enforcement operations, stretching volunteer networks and heightening fear in local communities.

Ben Hovland | MPR News

Speakers address a crowd at a community vigil

Minnesota immigrant-rights groups report surge in ICE alerts as federal arrests climb

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