The ICE raids are over, but some Minnesotans say they still live in fear e demonstrate against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the Cinco de Mayo parade in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on 2 May Aliah, a 20-year-old student in Minnesota, expected her new American life to be all about studying and work after fleeing Afghanistan in 2021 and being granted asylum in the US.But earlier this year, when federal immigration enforcement agents flooded the Minneapolis area during Operation Metro Surge, she faced a much different reality. Months after the operation's official end, its effects still linger."We're still a little scared," Aliah, who has a green card, told the BBC. Like several people in this report, she is not sharing her real or full name over safety concerns, but her identity has been verified.
Her family is praying the immigration operation in Minnesota doesn't ramp up again. "We don't have anywhere to go if we go back to my country."Operation Metro Surge began last December as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on undocumented immigrants, especially those that commit crimes. He linked the operation to a sprawling federal fraud investigation which found problems in the state's childcare industry, which the administration said involved mostly defendants from the state's large Somali community.But public outcry grew after federal agents shot and killed two US citizens who were protesting against the operation - Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37 - in separate incidents in January.By the end of February, amid a growing backlash, including from some Republicans, the administration announced it was pulling hundreds of agents out of the city. as pinned to the ground by federal agents and a chemical irritant was sprayed directly into his face in Minneapolis in January While life has returned to some sense of normalcy, Minnesota's immigrant community says they still grapple with residual trauma, economic impacts and uncertainties surrounding immigration status.Fatima, 19, a Somali refugee who was granted asylum, returned to in-person high-school classes in April after months of online learning.While she says she's happy to be back, her fear remains.
"I ask myself every day... I say, 'if they come back, what are you going to do?' I'm scared still if they come back," she said."When you have an invasion like this, people continue to experience the ramifications of that for a long time," said Michelle Eberhard, director of refugee services at International Institute of Minnesota. "People are still living through that trauma." 'The city is just this minefield of ghosts' n, masked agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) patrolled streets, raided homes and schools and detained thousands.
Katie, a Minneapolis teacher, led school efforts to deliver groceries and collect donations for impacted students - most chose to stay home, rather than risk an ICE raid at their school. She told the BBC her school wrapped up its aid programme in April, but continued dispersing remaining funds. Even as a US citizen, she still feels the effects, especially when driving by the memorials set up to remember Pretti and Good.
"The city is just this minefield of ghosts," she said. "Even when you forget about it, it just pops up again." Although school is back to normal, Katie added, some students had to drop out and support their families after relatives lost jobs during the operation. Alex Pretti set up at the location where federal agents shot and killed him ICE's presence has dwindled, but agents remainThe Trump administration has said Metro Surge was a success and was necessary to get "vicious criminals, including murderers, rapists, gang members, and terrorists" out of the country.
By mid-February, a thousand federal agents had left the state and hundreds more followed, with only a "small force" remaining "for a short period".While ICE's presence in the city has diminished, agents are still around. In a March lawsuit, the federal government said there were still 482 agents in Minnesota, according to the plaintiff, ACLU-MN. Additionally, about 190 federal agents worked in ICE's St Paul office before Metro Surge, the ACLU said.Border Czar Tom Homan said that, "moving forward, ICE will be conducting targeted immigration enforcement operations" like it has done "for decades".
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