Name: Video: Minneapolis estimates Operation Metro Surge cost the city $700 million
Description: City leaders released an updated assessment on Wednesday morning. It looks at lost business revenue, lost wages and the money the city spent responding to the surge of federal immigration agents.

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The city of Minneapolis estimates the federal immigration enforcement surge from December 2025 to April 2026 cost the city, residents and businesses $700 million.

The total includes dips in business revenue, lost wages for employees and additional costs to the city budget, such as police overtime. In February, 

 placed the surge’s cost closer to $200 million. 

Leaders released an updated assessment on Wednesday morning. It covers a longer period, from December through April.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the city needs help from the state and federal government, even as recovery begins.

“The hole that we’re coming out of is deep,” Frey said. “We’re going to do our part at the City of Minneapolis. Neighbors have consistently done their part in protecting people, and at the same time, we need help from the federal level, from the state. We need people to recognize the kind of damage that Minneapolis has experienced.”

During the surge, fear of arrest, detention and deportation spurred many immigrants to stay home from work. 

Daniel Hernandez owns Colonial Market and said people are still struggling to make up for that lost income and the lost time.

“Time is the only thing you cannot recoup in your life,” Hernandez said. “You cannot recoup money when your life is gone for three months.” 

Hernandez said he's closing his grocery store’s Lake Street location because of the economic impact of the surge. Most of his clients are Latino and stayed home this winter, and he said his store was only selling about 15 percent of its inventory. He said his location in north Minneapolis will stay open, and he’d like to open a new one if he can, as recovery continues.

City officials report about 3,800 people were arrested in the state during the operation. The vast majority were from Latin America. Specifically, people from Ecuador accounted for the largest share of arrests, followed closely by people from Mexico. Somali nationals made up about 3 percent of the arrests.

, but that data doesn’t capture every detail of every arrest.

City council member Jason Chavez said that makes it hard to quantify the impact.

“There’s so many stories that I, the mayor, the city council, our staff here will never ever know, many people that were sent to different countries that we will never ever know about, because this occupation that impacted our city was oftentimes done in the dark,” Chavez said.

 found that Operation Metro Surge caused Minnesota’s hospitality and tourism sectors, which have large immigrant populations, to lose approximately 4,600 jobs and $71 million in lost wages during the first three months of the year. 

In the wake of the surge, the city created an emergency rental assistance program and a small business resiliency fund. A total of $10.8 million in funding is currently being distributed through those programs, including refunds of business licensing fees. 

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City leaders released an updated assessment on Wednesday morning. It looks at lost business revenue, lost wages and the money the city spent responding to the surge of federal immigration agents. 

MPR News reporter Estelle Timar-Wilcox explains an updated assessment the city released Wednesday morning. It looks at lost business revenue, lost wages and the money the city spent responding to the surge of federal immigration agents.

Minneapolis estimates Operation Metro Surge cost the city $700 million

A woman in a crowd holds an "ICE Out" protest sign.

Minneapolis estimates Operation Metro Surge cost the city $700 million

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