The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it does not plan any new large-scale, city-targeted immigration enforcement operations in the near term, two senior DHS officials told NBC News. The announcement follows the end of Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, which federal officials billed as the largest enforcement deployment to date and began in November. That operation involved more than 3,000 ICE, CBP and other federal officers and agents and resulted in roughly 4,000 arrests, and it drew national attention after two U.S. citizens—Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti—were fatally shot in Minneapolis. Moving forward, officials said ICE will prioritize arrests of serious criminal offenders with immigration violations nationwide and that Border Patrol agents sent inland will be returned to border sectors.
Key Takeaways
- DHS officials told NBC News there are no immediate plans for more city-specific sweeps like Operation Metro Surge; the decision follows large deployments in multiple cities beginning in November.
- Operation Metro Surge deployed more than 3,000 officers and agents to the Twin Cities and produced about 4,000 arrests, according to federal counts.
- Two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens—Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti—during enforcement activity in Minneapolis intensified national scrutiny of the deployment.
- More than 1,000 Border Patrol agents had been deployed to interior cities; DHS officials said those agents will be returned to border sectors and will not be used for interior enforcement operations going forward.
- Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons reported 379,000 arrests during the administration’s first year, including 7,300 suspected gang members and 1,400 known or suspected terrorists, and more than 475,000 deportations.
- Immigration-related street arrests and transfers to ICE custody rose in the administration’s first nine months, producing at least 75,000 arrests of people with no criminal records in city operations across Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans and Charlotte.
- DHS officials signaled a policy shift toward targeting serious criminals nationwide rather than concentrating enforcement on particular cities.
Background
Operation Metro Surge began in November with a cross-agency mobilization billed by DHS as its largest local enforcement effort. The deployment placed agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including Border Patrol, and other federal partners into the Twin Cities area and into several other major cities. The initiative was part of a broader enforcement posture that the administration described as focused on removing those it labeled the “worst of the worst,” even as internal and external data showed many arrests involved people without criminal convictions.
Federal interior enforcement operations rose markedly during the administration’s first year, with ICE reporting hundreds of thousands of arrests and hundreds of thousands of removals. Critics and civil rights groups raised concerns about broad sweeps that swept up noncriminal immigrants, and several large municipal and state officials pushed back on the use of federal agents in city neighborhoods. The Minneapolis deployment, in particular, drew sustained attention after on-the-ground confrontations and two fatal shootings that involved immigration officers.
Main Event
Two senior DHS officials told NBC News that there are no immediate intentions to organize new, city-targeted enforcement operations similar to the Minneapolis surge. They characterized the next phase as a nationwide focus by ICE on individuals with serious criminal histories who also have immigration violations, rather than concentrated campaigns by location. The officials also said Border Patrol agents who had been sent into interior cities will be returned to their assigned border sectors and will not be used in ongoing interior enforcement roles.
The Twin Cities surge deployed more than 3,000 federal officers and agents beginning in November and led to approximately 4,000 arrests, according to federal figures circulated publicly. The operation prompted anti-ICE demonstrations and heightened scrutiny after the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, both identified in reporting as U.S. citizens, which raised questions about rules of engagement and oversight. Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol commander who had been prominent in enforcement activity in Minneapolis, was reassigned back to his prior sector chief role in El Centro, California, as part of a broader personnel reshuffle.
Officials said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem plans to pivot attention toward families who lost relatives to crimes by immigrants present without authorization and on voting security, according to one senior official. Meanwhile, federal arrest and removal totals presented by ICE leadership were cited in congressional settings to justify the scale of operations: Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told lawmakers that the agency made 379,000 arrests in the administration’s first year and deported more than 475,000 people.
Analysis & Implications
The stated shift away from city-specific surges toward nationwide focus on serious criminals alters how local jurisdictions may experience federal enforcement. Concentrated operations can strain relations between local law enforcement and immigrant communities, and the decision to avoid further large, city-focused deployments could reduce immediate tensions in urban areas where such actions prompted protests. Nonetheless, the nationwide emphasis on criminal offenders implies continued enforcement activity, just distributed differently across jurisdictions.
Returning Border Patrol agents to border sectors reduces the agency’s interior footprint but does not eliminate ICE’s ability to carry out arrests and removals. ICE’s operational tools—warrants, targeted arrests, detainers and transfers—remain available for enforcement against individuals deemed priorities. That distinction is important for cities that had pushed back against CBP or Border Patrol presence indoors but continue to see ICE operations.
Data presented by ICE leadership in hearings—379,000 arrests and more than 475,000 deportations—underscore the scale of federal activity even without city-targeted surges. Critics point to at least 75,000 arrests of people with no criminal records during the administration’s early campaigns as evidence that broad operations can sweep up vulnerable populations. Policy choices about whom to prioritize and where to deploy personnel will materially affect enforcement outcomes, local politics and legal challenges in the months ahead.
Comparison & Data
| Metric | Operation Metro Surge (Twin Cities) | Administration First Year Totals |
|---|---|---|
| Federal officers/agents deployed | >3,000 | — |
| Arrests (operation/period) | ~4,000 in Twin Cities | 379,000 (ICE reported) |
| Border Patrol agents sent inland | >1,000 | — |
| Arrests of non-criminals in city operations | Included in multi-city sweeps; part of at least 75,000 | At least 75,000 in first nine months |
| Deportations reported | — | >475,000 |
The table contrasts the concentrated Twin Cities deployment with national totals released by ICE and cited in congressional testimony. Operation Metro Surge was a localized example of broader enforcement patterns that, on aggregate, produced hundreds of thousands of arrests and removals. While personnel numbers and arrest totals are drawn from official briefings and agency reporting, differences in categorization (e.g., suspected gang members vs. noncriminal arrestees) can complicate direct comparisons.
Reactions & Quotes
“We do not intend to conduct additional sweeps that single out individual cities in the near term,” an unnamed senior DHS official told NBC News, framing the change as an operational shift.
Senior DHS official (on record to NBC News)
“ICE has made 379,000 arrests during the first year,” Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told Congress, citing agency totals that include suspected gang members and alleged national security threats.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons (congressional hearing)
Local advocates and civil-rights groups criticized the earlier operations for sweeping up many people without criminal records and for worsening trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement.
Civil-rights advocates (public statements)
Unconfirmed
- No public DHS policy document was cited in the NBC News report confirming a formal, long-term suspension of city-specific surges; the account is based on senior officials’ statements to reporters.
- The description of Secretary Kristi Noem’s planned focus on victims’ families and voting security was reported by an official and has not been published as a formal DHS policy plan in the sources cited.
- Exact internal criteria ICE will use to define “serious criminals” for nationwide prioritization were not detailed in the reporting and remain unspecified.
Bottom Line
DHS officials told NBC News they currently have no plans to replicate large, city-focused enforcement surges like Operation Metro Surge, signaling a tactical shift toward nation‑wide targeting of individuals with serious criminal histories. The change may ease immediate local tensions caused by visible federal deployments in urban neighborhoods, but ICE’s broad authority and high arrest totals indicate significant enforcement activity will continue in dispersed form. Returning Border Patrol agents to border sectors reduces the agency’s footprint in interior cities but does not limit ICE’s capacity to make arrests and effect removals.
For communities and local leaders, the new posture means fewer concentrated federal operations in individual cities, yet policy choices about prioritization and oversight will determine how enforcement affects immigrants, public safety, and local trust. Watch for formal policy guidance from DHS or ICE that clarifies prioritization criteria, deployment rules, and oversight mechanisms; absent that documentation, operational practice may change incrementally and remain subject to legal and political debate.
Sources
- NBC News — U.S. national news reporting: original story and on‑the‑record statements from senior DHS officials and ICE figures.