Border Czar Tom Homan (AP)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Trump administration’s drawdown of its immigration enforcement surge in the Twin Cities area has been met with relief, but state officials and residents say its effects on Minnesota’s economy and immigrant communities will linger.
Thousands of officers were sent to the Minneapolis and St. Paul area for Operation Metro Surge, which the Department of Homeland Security called its “ largest immigration enforcement operation ever ” and touted as a success. But President Donald Trump’s enforcement campaign came under increasing criticism as the situation grew more volatile.
The shooting deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers drew condemnation and raised questions over officers’ conduct, prompting changes to the operation.
And despite the announced end to the surge, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz urged Minnesotans to remain vigilant and said the damage would be lasting.
“The fact of the matter is they left us with deep damage, generational trauma,” Walz said. “They left us with economic ruin, in some cases. They left us with many unanswered questions.”
Following the announcement Thursday, some residents held a vigil at a makeshift shrine that went up where Good was shot in Minneapolis.
Mark Foresman, an attendee from the suburb of St. Louis Park, said he is skeptical that the agents will leave.
“The Trump administration has created an atmosphere of distrust for government in general,” he said, suggesting the Trump administration’s tactics seemed designed to sow fear. “They’ve repeatedly been caught in lies.”.
John Schnickel, a local who attended the vigil, disputed Trump officials’ claims that the operation had made Minnesota safer.
“I don’t even want one ICE person here, if they act the way they’ve been acting,” said local attendee John Schnickel. “They talk about how the murder rate is down, and yet they’ve added two people to it,” he said.
Most U.S. adults say they think Trump’s immigration policies have gone too far, according to a recent AP-NORC poll.
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