Federal officials: Fewer than 1,000 immigration agents remain in Minnesota
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Federal officials say fewer than 1,000 immigration agents are left in Minnesota, amid the reported winding down of what the White House has called “Operation Metro Surge.”
According to court filings this week, that’s down from more than 4,000 combined U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents and other personnel at the peak of the surge. But it’s still hundreds more than the typical federal footprint in the state.
The court filings were part of an ongoing lawsuit against federal officials, alleging that officers have engaged in widespread racial profiling and unlawful stops during the immigration enforcement surge.
One of the declarations filed this week was from Sam Olson, ICE’s St. Paul field office director. Olson wrote that the office is typically staffed with 190 Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers, covering not just Minnesota but also North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. About 80 of those are in the Twin Cities.
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During Operation Metro Surge, Olson wrote, “approximately 3,000 additional ERO officers and HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) agents were detailed to the St. Paul Field Office. These details have come at different times and for varying lengths of time.”
As of Monday, Olson reported that there were about 270 ERO officers and 700 HSI agents still assigned to the St. Paul Field Office. By Wednesday, he wrote, “approximately 107 ERO officers will remain on detail to the St. Paul Field Office. HSI anticipates that there will be approximately 300 agents on detail to the St. Paul Field Office by March 2026.”
He said ICE agents arrested more than 4,000 people in the country illegally during Operation Metro Surge.
Customs and Border Protection personnel
Another court filing Monday was from Marty Raybon Sr., director of field operations for U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Detroit Field Office — and as of Feb. 3, the agency’s lead field coordinator for Operation Metro Surge.
Raybon wrote that when he began in that position, there were about 1,029 CBP employees assigned to the operation — including CBP officers, Border Patrol agents, support staff and other personnel.
The following day, Feb. 4 — the same day White House official Tom Homan first announced a drawdown of federal agents — Raybon said CBP in fact demobilized about 680 of its officers and agents assigned to the surge. That drawdown continued for the next two and a half weeks, Raybon wrote.
By Monday, the number of CBP personnel still assigned to the surge was 67 — and Raybon said they would be demobilized that day. Raybon’s declaration did not say how many CBP personnel are typically in Minnesota, separate from the surge.
Correction (Feb. 25, 2026): A previous version of this story incorrectly identified U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The story has been updated.
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