Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined immigration agents Tuesday at a morning raid in St. Paul as federal enforcement expanded in the Twin Cities in what officials say is the largest ever operation of its kind.
Noem participated in a large-scale raid on Payne Avenue on St. Paul’s East Side that resulted in the arrest of an Ecuadorian national, according to a video she posted on X.
Videos posted online and submitted to Sahan Journal by witnesses showed a large Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence, including an armored vehicle that blocked a portion of the street at about 7:30 a.m.
Noem said the man has criminal convictions in Ecuador and is currently wanted for murder in his home nation. He was handcuffed and escorted out of his apartment by dozens of heavily armed agents, according to the video she posted.
Noem’s visit came as immigration agents are inundating the Twin Cities. An additional 2,000 ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents were reportedly deployed to Minnesota this week, according to CBS News. Sahan Journal has not been able to verify the number.
Increased immigration crackdowns will likely continue across the country, boosted by ICE’s increased budget and staffing. There are 12,000 new ICE agents in 2026, the agency announced Monday, more than doubling its personnel from the start of 2025.
More than 150 people in Minnesota were arrested by immigration agents Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a news release.
The deployment is swelling the ranks of ICE in Minnesota, which began an effort dubbed Operation Metro Surge in December. The most recent surge in agents is expected to last 30 days and include U.S. Border Patrol agents, CBS reported.
The increase in ICE agents in Minnesota is massive, according to Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons.
“We have the largest immigration operation ever taking place right now,” Lyons told television network Newsmax in an interview Tuesday.
The operation includes HSI agents going “door-to-door” at companies suspected of hiring people in the country illegally or participating in fraud, Lyons said. He also decried sanctuary city policies in the Twin Cities that prohibit local law enforcement from collaborating with immigration officials.
“They’re up there taking the fight to these sanctuary jurisdictions,” Lyons said of federal agents.
Shortly after 8 a.m., the official Department of Homeland Security (DHS) account on X posted, “Good morning Minneapolis!” Videos posted by Noem and DHS reference Minneapolis but were taken in St. Paul.
In a statement, Noem said the goal is to deliver accountability for the “rampant fraud and criminality happening in Minnesota.”
The influx is sparking fear in the Twin Cities, immigrant advocates told Sahan Journal. It comes in the wake of a series of right-wing media reports about fraud scandals in Minnesota.
On Tuesday morning, a flurry of activity hit social media pages and chat groups tracking ICE activity in the Twin Cities. ICE agents have been documented in immigrant hubs along East Lake Street in Minneapolis, on the West Side of St. Paul and in Bloomington.
The Department of Homeland Security did not directly respond to messages seeking information on the increased deployment in Minnesota and Noem’s visit. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a written statement that DHS has arrested more than 1,000 people in Minnesota, and declined to elaborate on Noem’s visit or ICE activity.
