Minnesota DOC Provides New Evidence Showing ICE Arrest Numbers Falsified

As of late January 2026, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had arrested approximately 10,000 individuals in Minnesota since President Donald Trump took office.

Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota officially began in December 2025, with a major expansion and deployment of 2,000 agents announced by the DHS on January 6, 2026, which led to significant arrests, but also to well-publicized controversy, tension, violent confrontations, including the deaths of two citizens, and a wave of protests.

Now, the Minnesota Department of Corrections has come forward with concerns that the Department of Homeland Security is inflating the actual number of arrests being made, and they've provided video proof.

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Minnesota DOC Releases Evidence Showing How ICE Arrest Numbers Are Inflated

In a recent news release, the Minnesota Department of Corrections provided new evidence demonstrating that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security continues to publish false  Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “arrest” claims in press releases and on their website by mischaracterizing routine custody transfers from Minnesota state prisons.

DHS’s “Worst of the Worst” (WOW) website, wow.dhs.gov/Minnesota, allows users to search by state and city for “criminal illegal aliens that have been removed from their state.”

However, on review, the Minnesota Department of Corrections quickly identified 68 cases in which individuals were lawfully transferred from Minnesota Department of Corrections custody directly to ICE, only for DHS officials to falsely claim these same individuals were “arrested” by waves of federal agents deployed into Minnesota communities.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections notes that the DHS is justifying its federal deployment into Minnesota communities based on the demonstrably false narrative that Minnesota refuses to honor ICE detainers.

However, the truth is that Minnesota DOC says it honors ICE detainers and coordinates custody transfers every day. Those transfers are documented, scheduled, and verifiable.

The DOC the DHS is taking credit for “arrests” which are, in reality, state-to-federal handoffs occurring at prison facilities after individuals complete their state terms of imprisonment, as has been the long-standing practice.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections also reiterated that it is compelled to release this information because DHS continues to rely on these misrepresentations to justify expanded federal operations in Minnesota.

This disclosure is based on newly reviewed records, cross-checked custody data, and video documentation. The Department also released a 4 videos to further illustrate the nature of DHS’s misrepresentation.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections added that additional cases continue to be identified, so the department has created a website to monitor and correct Department of Homeland Security misinformation, which you can access through the button below.

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