Key Takeaways
- Gov. Tim Walz held a press conference after Operation Metro Surge was announced to have ended, offering to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) leave the state.
- The surge deployed thousands of federal agents to Minnesota, resulting in community trauma and economic disruption.
- Walz said the state will focus on recovery and pressing the federal government for accountability.
On Thursday (Feb. 12) morning, border czar Tom Homan announced that Operation Metro Surge is coming to an end, and if there’s one person happy about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) withdrawing, it’s Tim Walz. During a press conference shortly after the news broke, the Minnesota governor went as far as offering to come by and pack ICE’s bags himself.
Walz told the public he’d spoken directly with Homan, who assured him that “all the surge” would be ending “immediately.” He explained, “As soon as they can pack their stuff, book a plane, move on … We will help you get to the airport. We will clear the roads to get you to the airport.”
“I will come over and pack your damn bags if that’s what it takes,” Walz continued. He later said he’s “skeptically optimistic” that federal officers will be gone by the middle of next week at the latest. See the video below.
What Minnesota is still grappling with after Operation Metro Surge
At one point, about 3,000 federal officers were stationed in Minnesota across ICE, Border Patrol, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. President Donald Trump later pulled some of them following the death of protester Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse shot and killed by Border Patrol agents. Then, last week, Homan confirmed another reduction of roughly 700 officers.
As Walz noted, while Operation Metro Surge may be wrapping up, there’s still the fallout left to deal with. “The fact of the matter is, they left us with deep damage [and] generational trauma,” he said. “They left us with economic ruin in some cases. They left us with many unanswered questions." Among those questions are what happened to all the children detained by ICE and the status of the investigations into the officers involved in the deaths of Renée Good and Pretti.
Walz added, "While the federal government may move on to whatever next thing they want to do, the State of Minnesota and our administration [are] unwaveringly focused on the recovery of what they did.”