February 12, 2026 11:48 AM UTC

Minnesota Immigration Enforcement Operation Ends After Disastrous Two Months

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• by: Colorado Pols

One of the most disheartening and dangerous federal law enforcement operations in modern American history has finally ended.

As The New York Times reports:

The Trump administration said on Thursday that it was ending its deployment of immigration agents to Minnesota, unwinding an aggressive operation that has stretched for more than two months despite loud opposition from residents and local officials.

Tom Homan, the White House border czar, said “a significant drawdown has already been underway this week, and will continue to the next week.”

Mr. Homan said he had made arrangements for immigration agents to have more access to undocumented inmates at county jails in Minnesota and had productive conversations with state officials. He did not immediately provide details of agreements reached with Minnesota officials.

“As a result of our efforts here, Minnesota is now less of a sanctuary state for criminals,” Mr. Homan said.

For many Minnesotans who had watched the federal government exert its will on their state — wielding law enforcement power and physical force at a scale that had no modern precedent in the United States — Mr. Homan’s announcement signaled a welcome shift. Still, news of a drawdown was greeted with skepticism.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” said Elliott Payne, the president of the Minneapolis City Council.

Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who described the operation as “an unprecedented federal invasion in all aspects of life,” said he was “cautiously optimistic” after the announcement by Mr. Homan. [Pols emphasis]

While the Trump administration tries to claim some sort of weird victory, those last sentiments encapsulate the lasting damage caused by a two month surge of “immigration enforcement” in the Minneapolis area: The Trump administration has made it virtually impossible to trust the federal government.

New polling numbers from AP-NORC show just how harmful the last two months have been for the Trump administration and Republicans in general. Via The Associated Press:

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say President Donald Trump has “gone too far” in sending federal immigration agents into American cities, according to a new AP-NORC poll that suggests political independents are increasingly uncomfortable with his tactics.

Views of Trump’s handling of immigration — which fell over the course of his first year — remained steady over the past month, with about 4 in 10 saying they approve of the president’s approach. But the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also found that the Republican Party’s advantage on Trump’s signature political issue has shrunk since October.

About 3 in 10 U.S. adults trust Republicans to do a better job handling immigration, while a similar share say the same of Democrats. [Pols emphasis] An additional 3 in 10, roughly, don’t think either party would do a better job handling the issue, and about 1 in 10 say both parties would handle it equally well…

…The new polling comes as the nation watches the human impact of Trump’s crackdown in Minneapolis, where thousands of heavily armed masked agents descended upon the city to find and remove immigrants in the country illegally. The administration announced Thursday that it would end its operation there, saying it had left the state safer than before.

There have also been violent clashes with protesters, including two U.S. citizens killed by federal agents. About 6 in 10 Americans believe that Trump has “gone too far” when using federal law enforcement at public protests in U.S. cities, the poll found.

As Michael A. Cohen of MS Now put it this week:

It’s honestly one of the most extraordinary own-goals in modern political history. Trump has taken an issue where the public was on his side — and that of the GOP — and thrown it away.

One year ago, this Economist/YouGov poll showed President Trump with a 51% approval rating on the issue of immigration. The new AP-NORC poll shows Trump’s approval on the issue has plummeted to 38%. Perceptions of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are equally poor: Only 3 in 10 adults in the AP-NORC poll have a favorable view of ICE.