How Minneapolis became ground zero in Trump’s immigration crackdown

The fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents on Saturday has further escalated tensions in Minneapolis, a city now at the center of America’s heated battle over immigration enforcement.

Pretti’s killing occurred less than three weeks after Renee Good, another Minneapolis resident and U.S. citizen, was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. A total of 3,000 ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents are now operating in the city, a force roughly five times the size of the Minneapolis Police Department, which has about 600 officers.

A top ICE official said Sunday that federal agents had carried out roughly 3,400 arrests in the area, though he did not disclose how many arrestees had criminal records.

**Here’s a look at how the Trump administration’s crackdown in Minneapolis has unfolded, highlighting major events that have placed the Midwestern city in the national and global spotlight:**

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### Dec. 1: ICE Launches Crackdown in Minneapolis Area

ICE launched “Operation Metro Surge” in the Minneapolis area during the first week of December. This was the latest in a string of Trump administration immigration crackdowns targeting Democratic communities.

CBS News reported that ICE planned to target individuals with deportation orders, including many Somali immigrants—a population President Trump harshly criticized. Minnesota drew nationwide attention due to numerous fraud schemes that allegedly bilked billions of dollars from the state’s federally funded public assistance programs.

President Trump attacked state officials over the fraud scandals and focused on the fact that most of those charged were of Somali descent. Minnesota has the nation’s largest Somali American population, the vast majority of whom are U.S. citizens by birth or naturalization, according to census data.

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### Dec. 26: Viral Video Alleges Fraud in Minnesota Day Cares

A now-viral YouTube video posted the day after Christmas featured conservative influencer Nick Shirley visiting nearly a dozen day care facilities in the Minneapolis area. Shirley alleged these centers were receiving taxpayer money but not providing services.

The video, which has amassed nearly 4 million views on YouTube, was amplified by Vice President JD Vance and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

State investigators later visited several of the day care centers highlighted in the video and found nine operating as expected. Eight of the facilities had children present during inspections, and one was not yet open for the day. The Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families reported one center closed in early January.

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### Dec. 29: ICE Dispatches Agents to Visit Minneapolis-Area Businesses

Days after the Shirley video, agents from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations branch were dispatched to conduct site visits to several dozen Minneapolis businesses. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said they were overseeing a “massive investigation on childcare and other rampant fraud.”

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### Jan. 5: Thousands of Additional Federal Agents Deployed

Roughly a week after the Shirley video, CBS News reported that the Trump administration would deploy an additional 2,000 federal immigration agents to the Twin Cities. The Department of Homeland Security called this the largest operation in its history.

The reinforcements included Border Patrol agents, among them commander Gregory Bovino, who previously led sweeping and controversial immigration enforcement operations in Charlotte, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

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### Jan. 7: Renee Good Shot and Killed by ICE Officer

Two days later, an ICE officer fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good while she was behind the wheel of her car, sparking outrage and days of protests.

Videos show multiple ICE officers approaching Good’s car, with one officer stepping in front of it. Good backed up, turned her wheel, and began to drive forward when the officer, Jonathan Ross, fired multiple shots.

The Trump administration accused Good of intentionally attempting to hit the officer, describing the incident as an “act of domestic terrorism” that left the agent injured. However, lawyers representing Good’s family said she and her partner were simply observing ICE operations, and video analysis suggested she may have been trying to steer away from the officers.

Hours later, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey sharply criticized ICE, telling the agency: “Get the f*** out of Minneapolis.”

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### Jan. 13: Prosecutors Resign Amid Pressure Over Renee Good Investigation

At least six career prosecutors from the Minneapolis U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, resigned amid pressure to classify the investigation of Good’s shooting as an assault on a federal officer rather than a civil rights case.

Most were supervisors in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and departed after learning no civil rights investigation would proceed. An FBI supervisor in the Minneapolis field office also resigned, partly over pressure to discontinue the investigation. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension withdrew from the probe, citing DOJ restrictions on evidence access.

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### Jan. 15: ICE Officer Shoots Man in Leg During Alleged Shovel Attack

Exactly a week after Good’s killing, DHS stated another ICE officer shot a Venezuelan migrant during an arrest attempt in Minneapolis. The agency said the migrant and two others attacked the officer with a snow shovel and broom handle. The officer shot the original target in the leg; the injuries were non-life-threatening.

The Justice Department later charged the Venezuelan man and another migrant with assaulting the officer.

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### Jan. 15: Trump Threatens to Use Insurrection Act in Minneapolis

As protests continued, President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if state officials failed to “stop professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E.”

If enforced, this law could authorize military deployment on Minneapolis streets against objections from state and local officials. Subsequently, approximately 1,500 active-duty soldiers in Alaska were placed on standby for possible deployment to Minnesota.

The Justice Department considered working with the Pentagon on a smaller scale, potentially using military lawyers and forensic accountants to assist in fraud investigations.

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### Jan. 16: Judge Blocks DHS Agents From Arresting or Using Pepper Spray on Peaceful Protesters

A federal judge barred DHS agents from arresting or using pepper spray and nonlethal munitions on peaceful protesters in Minnesota following a lawsuit alleging the federal agents violently subdued demonstrations against immigration enforcement.

The government denied excessive force claims. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated the agency was “taking appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.”

An appellate court paused the judge’s order less than a week later.

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### Jan. 16: Justice Department Probes Minnesota Officials for Alleged Obstruction

On January 16, CBS News reported a DOJ investigation into allegations that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and other officials conspired to impede federal immigration agents.

Walz and Frey condemned the investigation as political intimidation. A week later, the DOJ subpoenaed the offices of Walz, Frey, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, and other top officials.

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### Jan. 18: Anti-ICE Protesters Disrupt Church Service, Prompting Justice Department Crackdown

On January 18, protesters upset about ICE’s operations in Minnesota entered a St. Paul church, disrupting a Sunday service. The protest targeted Cities Church because a listed pastor also worked for ICE.

The disruption caused families and congregants to leave and was widely condemned by conservatives and the Trump administration, which quickly vowed a criminal investigation.

The DOJ also announced it would bring charges against former CNN anchor Don Lemon, who was reporting at the scene. While three individuals were arrested on federal charges days later, a magistrate judge refused arrest warrants for five others, including Lemon. An appeals court later declined to compel the issuance of the remaining warrants.

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### Jan. 18: U.S. Citizen Detained by ICE at Gunpoint

Immigration agents forcibly entered a St. Paul home and detained ChongLy “Scott” Thao, a 56-year-old Hmong American and U.S. citizen, at gunpoint without a warrant, according to The Associated Press.

Images showed Thao being led out in handcuffs wearing only underwear, Crocs, and a blanket in the snow, sparking public outrage and renewed scrutiny of ICE’s tactics. Thao was later released.

DHS described the operation as targeting two convicted sex offenders believed to live at the same address, claiming Thao matched a suspect’s description. His family strongly disputed that claim.

The next day, two whistleblowers revealed a May 2025 ICE memo authorizing officers to forcibly enter homes without judicial warrants during operations targeting deportation order holders—a major departure from longstanding Fourth Amendment protections.

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### Jan. 20: ICE Takes 5-Year-Old Boy Into Custody With His Father

On January 20, ICE officers in Minneapolis detained an Ecuadorian man and his 5-year-old son, Liam Conejo Ramos. Photos and videos of Liam wearing a blue bunny hat and school backpack garnered national attention and raised questions about the administration’s deportation tactics.

Federal officials said Liam’s father, accused of being in the U.S. illegally, tried to flee and abandoned Liam in a car during the arrest. Officers attempted to get Liam’s mother to care for him, but she reportedly feared arrest and refused.

Advocates accused ICE of using Liam as bait—a claim the agency denied. Liam and his father remain at a family detention center in Texas with pending immigration cases, making deportation legally barred for now.

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### Jan. 24: Alex Pretti Fatally Shot by Border Patrol Agents

Weeks after Renee Good’s death, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and ICU nurse, was fatally shot by immigration agents in Minneapolis.

Videos show Pretti standing in a street holding his phone toward agents. After being pushed back, he was wrestled to the ground and appeared to struggle as officers tried to restrain him. He was then shot multiple times.

Homeland Security Secretary Noem alleged Pretti approached officers with a handgun and reacted violently, forcing an agent to fire defensive shots. However, videos do not show Pretti holding a gun; one clip shows an agent pulling a gun from the struggle but emerging empty-handed.

Local police confirmed Pretti was a lawful gun owner with a permit.

The Trump administration defended the officers, with Border Patrol commander Bovino accusing Pretti—without evidence—of attempting to “massacre law enforcement” during an operation targeting a man wanted for domestic assault.

Local politicians condemned the shooting. Governor Walz called it “sickening,” adding, “These tactics are very obviously not safe, and it is generating a lot of outrage and fear in the community.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told CBS’s “Face the Nation”: “Even if an investigation finds the shooting lawful, it may not matter because there is so much outrage and concern about what is happening in the city.”

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### Jan. 24: Pam Bondi Makes Three Demands to “Bring Back Law and Order”

In a three-page letter to Governor Walz, Attorney General Pam Bondi urged the state to allow federal review of Minnesota’s voter rolls and welfare data and to grant ICE increased access to state jails.

Bondi said these steps would help “bring back law and order” and accused state officials of “anti-law enforcement rhetoric” that endangered federal agents.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon criticized the request, calling it an “outrageous attempt to coerce Minnesota into giving the federal government private data on millions of U.S. citizens.”

The Trump administration has long pushed Minnesota authorities to increase cooperation with ICE. State corrections officials say they cooperate with ICE, though the level varies by county.

On social media, Trump urged local law enforcement to assist ICE and called Democratic officials “to enforce our Nation’s Laws, rather than resist and stoke the flames of Division, Chaos, and Violence.”

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### Jan. 25: Minneapolis Police Chief Says, “This Is Not Sustainable”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara expressed frustration over the recent violence and shootings, emphasizing the strain on the city’s police force.

“This is the third shooting now in less than three weeks,” O’Hara said on “Face the Nation.” “The Minneapolis Police Department went the entire last year recovering about 900 guns from the street and didn’t shoot anyone. Now, two American citizens have been killed and three shootings have occurred in three weeks. This is not sustainable.”

He described the overwhelming challenge of managing the chaos alongside regular police duties in a major city as “too much.”

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As Minneapolis grapples with heightened federal immigration enforcement, the city continues to face deep divisions, public protests, and ongoing debate over law enforcement tactics and community safety.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/minneapolis-trump-immigration-ice-border-patrol-arrests-protests-shootings/

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