Federal Gov’t Tries to Defuse Resistance with Cosmetic Changes

The following is an article that first appeared on Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) News. It describes an explosion in the number of trained volunteer observers — now nearly 30,000 across Minnesota — who monitor and record the activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents. This registers the breadth of popular resistance to the terror by federal thugs deployed by the Trump administration to crack down on immigrant workers and undermine everyone’s democratic rights in that state.

This activity is coupled with mass protests that have included rallies by tens of thousands and walkouts by high school students after federal goons murdered in cold blood two of these volunteer observers — U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti. In response, the Trump administration is trying to diffuse the growing resistance through cosmetic changes.

On February 4, White House “border czar” Tom Homan announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would reduce by 700 the number of agents deployed to Minnesota. State officials, immigrant rights and community groups, and those involved in resisting the DHS “Operation Metro Surge” since early December reacted with skepticism.

The number of such federal agents in Minnesota is normally about 150. But it mushroomed to 3,000 as the Trump administration targeted the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul as ground zero for its anti-immigrant crackdown.

The drawdown, Homan warned, “is largely contingent upon the end of the illegal and threatening activities against ICE and its federal partners that we’re seeing in this community.”

Repeating the Trump administration line that the problem is “agitators,” Homan doubled down on blaming those exercising their First Amendment rights for the recent bloodshed. “We got to stop the rhetoric, the hateful rhetoric that has caused an increase in assaults,” he said. “We will not draw down … until we see a change in what’s happening with the lawlessness of impeding and interfering and assaulting of ICE and border patrol officers…. You’re not going to stop ICE; you’re not going to stop border patrol…. You interfere, impede, assault an ICE officer, you will be arrested.”

Minnesota governor Tim Walz called the announcement “a step in the right direction,” but called for “a faster and larger drawdown of forces.” Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said on social media that “2,000 ICE officers still here is not de-escalation.”

A sharper response came from the ICE Out of Minnesota Coalition. “Today’s announcement is simply a political stunt…. There are still thousands of masked, unaccountable agents terrorizing our communities, attacking peaceful observers, and undermining Minnesotans’ constitutional and civil rights…. This sudden shift … comes as federal agencies face budget negotiations and mounting public scrutiny.”

The Coalition noted that Homan’s announcement “makes clear that the groundswell of everyday Minnesotans standing up to these atrocities is starting to work, but this is not a victory. Until families can leave their homes without fear of being profiled and children can go to school without worrying about being used as bait, Minnesotans will remain insistent on our demand for ICE to leave our state.”

The MPR News article reproduced below provides a glimpse of the breadth of this resistance. We are publishing it for the information of our readers. The headline, text, and photo that follow are from the original.

— World-Outlook editors

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Nearly 30,000 Minnesotans trained as constitutional observers

By Kelly Gordon and Ellen Finn

February 2, 2026, 1:29 PM

It’s been two months since the federal government began what it calls “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota. Besides spreading fear amongst immigrants and many documented instances of violence and racial profiling, the surge has led many Minnesotans to jump into action.

The Immigrant Defense Network helped band together more than 100 organizations to assist struggling families and defend immigrants’ constitutional rights. In January, the network registered an average of 2,000 volunteers per week to train as constitutional observers. A constitutional observer is a trained community member who observes and documents federal law enforcement activity to help ensure constitutional rights are followed.

Edwin Torres Desantiago, the Immigrant Defense Network manager, told MPR News in November that 2,500 people were trained as observers. He said the total now is nearly 30,000 trained observers in 77 out of 87 counties in Minnesota.

“The scale is unimaginable,” Torres Desantiago said. “We have rapid response around the clock, seven days a week. We are actively responding to a case every six minutes across the state of Minnesota.”

Additionally, another 6,000 volunteers are registered to help deliver food, give at-risk families rides, go to court hearings and translate documents. Torres Desantiago said that to many staff and volunteers, their work feels like a nonstop sprint.

“A lot of us are tired, but we know that in this moment we need to keep defending and protecting our neighbors.”

With an unclear end to a surge in immigration enforcement, the Immigrant Defense Network is now making changes to be able to continue it’s work for as long as necessary.

“We are now expecting and creating the infrastructure that this is something we have to sustain for an unforeseeable future.”

Torres Desantiago said that even if the there was a sudden decrease in ICE agents in the state, his organization would still work around the clock for months to help with the ripple effect the operation has had on tens of thousands of Minnesotans.

— Minnesota Now guest host Kelly Gordon and producer Ellen Finn

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