Operation Metro Surge: Where do elected officials, candidates stand
As part of the Dodge County Independent series “ICE impacts in Rural Minnesota,” we asked state and federal officials, along with known 2026 candidates, two questions regarding Operation Metro Surge, the name of the current federal immigration enforcement operation that has sent thousands of federal agents to Minnesota.
Congressional District 1
Congressman Brad Finstad:
Did not respond
Jake Johnson DFL candidate:
Do you support the current Operation Metro Surge? Why or why not?
I don’t support Operation Metro Surge, which has led to the deaths of two U.S. citizens and has operated over the objections of local law enforcement.
What steps do you feel should be taken to ensure the safety of communities while also restoring a sense of normalcy?
When we have students who are too scared to even come to school, it’s clear that ICE needs to end its targeted focus on Minnesota. And as I talk to folks across southern Minnesota, I keep hearing that people want the federal government to be focused on making their lives more affordable, not on funding these poorly-trained ICE agents to roam around their communities.
House District 24A
DFL Candidate Heather Holmes
Do you support the current Operation Metro Surge? Why or why not?
No, I do not support Operation Metro Surge. It has caused nothing but chaos and fear throughout our state, not just in Minneapolis, but also in our rural communities. Two Minnesotans have already lost their lives, a 6 month old nearly lost their life, and our neighbors are afraid to go to work and send their children to school. Beloved local businesses have shut their doors, and our communities feel threatened rather than protected.
The claim that Minnesota refuses to follow the law is misleading. Our state prison system already honors ICE detainer requests and notifies federal authorities before releasing people from custody, and they provide cooperation where it’s authorized and appropriate. However, local autonomy matters. Our county jails and local governments need to be able to make decisions consistent with constitutional protections and public safety. Due process applies to everyone, and tactics causing people to fear being stopped for their “papers” will only erode trust in local law enforcement and make our communities less safe. Our rural communities already know what we need, and we sure don’t need the federal government telling us how to keep our towns and cities safe.
What steps do you feel should be taken to ensure the safety of communities while also restoring a sense of normalcy?
First and foremost, to restore normalcy and safety in our communities, this operation should end immediately. It is doing nothing to make us safer. Second, Congress must do its job and fix our broken immigration system. Politicians’ willingness to use this issue as a political pawn to maintain power and their subsequent inaction on this issue is what has created the systemic problems we’re dealing with in the first place. It is cruel and inhumane to use our immigrant neighbors as political pawns. We all deserve better. It is high time we come together and demand a system that will both keep our communities safe and allow people to live and work with dignity. Lastly, our local law enforcement often lives in the communities where they serve, and maintaining trust in those communities is paramount. Therefore, we also must strengthen local public safety partnerships and focus on serious offenders, not allow for sweeping federal deployments that only serve to fracture our communities.
State Rep. Duane Quam
Did not respond.
Senate District 24
State Senator Carla Nelson
Do you support the current Operation Metro Surge? Why or why not?
I support the mission to go after the worst of the worst criminals to keep our communities safe, as I think we all do. I’m glad the President sent Tom Homan to run this. He’s a serious leader who’s been doing this his whole career, including under Democrat and Republican presidents.
What steps do you feel should be taken to ensure the safety of communities while also restoring a sense of normalcy?
I’ve said this before, but when things get heated our job as leaders is to calm things down, not make them worse. I was hopeful after the president talked to Governor Walz and Mayor Frey that we’d see things cool off a bit. I still am. Inflammatory rhetoric doesn’t help.
City, county, and state leaders need to work with federal law enforcement. People have the right to protest, but they don’t have the right to put lives at risk or get in the way when law enforcement is doing their job. That just makes things more dangerous for everyone.
The way forward is leaders actually committing to de-escalation and working in good faith on the reality we’re actually in, not the reality we wish we had. “My way or the highway” pronouncements don’t get us anywhere. We must work together.
DFL Candidate Simon Glaser
Do you support the current Operation Metro Surge? Why or why not?
I support the laws of Minnesota and the United States of America, as well as the Constitution which gives those laws life. This includes the laws that govern immigration, but also those laws that protect the lives and rights of the people living in our community. Video evidence and credible eyewitness accounts have shown that these laws have been violated by the Department of Homeland Security and immigration enforcement. Two Minnesotans have died, and countless others have had their lives unnecessarily turned upside down. I absolutely cannot support the continued violation of our rights.
What steps do you feel should be taken to ensure the safety of communities while also restoring a sense of normalcy?
Minnesota has always followed the law as it pertains to criminals without permanent immigration status, and we don’t need the help of thousands of additional ICE and Border Control agents. Let state and local law enforcement do what they know how to do best — keep our communities safe and secure. Minnesota’s sense of normalcy has always included both respecting the law and welcoming the stranger.