ICE calls on Minnesota to transfer detained undocumented immigrants to federal custody

Federal immigration officials defended their Minnesota operations as lawful and focused on public safety, even as ICE urged state leaders to hand over detained undocumented immigrants to federal custody amid local criticism and protests. The intensified enforcement has drawn sharp pushback from Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis officials, who condemn the tactics and heightened tensions.

Reuters

January 21, 2026

ICE calls on Minnesota to transfer detained undocumented immigrants to federal custody

Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino speaks as Marcos Charles, ICE Acting Executive Associate Director, Enforcement and Removal Operations, stands beside him during a press conference at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good on January 7 during an immigration raid, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 20, 2026.

Leah Millis/Reuters

U.S. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino said on Tuesday (January 20) that federal immigration operations in Minnesota were "lawful" and focused on public safety, rejecting criticism from local officials and police chiefs.

"Our operations are lawful, they’re targeted and they’re focused on individuals who pose a serious threat to this community," Bovino told reporters in Minneapolis.

ICE Executive Associate Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations Marcos Charles said officers arrested 113 undocumented immigrants in Minnesota over the weekend and the Monday holiday. He added that ICE who shot Rene Good during an enforcement operation earlier this month, was recovering at home.

Charles urged Minnesota state and city leaders to cooperate with federal authorities and transfer detained undocumented immigrants to ICE custody. “We are calling on Governor Walz and Mayor Frey to turn these criminal illegal aliens directly over to ICE to keep Minnesota residents in our community safe,” he said.

U.S President Donald Trump has sent thousands of Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into the Minneapolis area in recent weeks to conduct deportation roundups, unprecedented in scale, that have led to numerous violent encounters with residents.

The agents have carried rifles through the city's snowy streets, dressed in military-style camouflage, tactical gear and masks, drawing loud but mostly peaceful protests from residents.

Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey have denounced the ICE operations as reckless political theater that was putting the public at risk and was designed to provoke chaos that Trump would use as a pretext to exert an even greater show of force.

Production: Maria Alejandra Cardona, Bernat Parera/Reuters