January 22, 2026

Minnesota v. Noem (amicus brief): “Operation Metro Surge” fact sheet

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Public safety depends on trust. When masked and armed federal immigration agents invade American cities, these surges create fear and confusion, people stop calling for help and cooperating with local police, and our whole community is less safe.
Local governments should be able to focus on local needs. This includes public safety, schools, and essential services — rather than being forced to divert time and resources to serve a federal agenda and be punished by the federal government for state and local policy choices
This kind of surge doesn’t just target individuals — it disrupts entire cities. Staff and resources are pulled into emergency response, disrupting communities, damaging the local economy and harming businesses, and creating messes that require local resources to clean up and divert core services.
We’re seeing real community disruption — families avoiding school, work, businesses, and health care out of fear — which harms kids, public health, and the local economy.

Operation Metro Surge is an ongoing federal immigration enforcement effort launched in early December 2025 that deployed over 3,000 masked and armed federal agents in Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The brief argues the surge violates the 10th Amendment’s anti-commandeering doctrine — the rule that the federal government can’t commandeer or coerce state and local governments to administer or enforce a federal program.
It says the surge is being used to pressure Minnesota and the Twin Cities because federal officials disagree with their policies, not because of an urgent need for this scale of enforcement.

Public safety impacts: The brief describes “chaos and harm,” including two residents shot by federal agents since the surge began, along with forceful tactics such as people being tear-gassed, assaulted, or dragged from vehicles in Minnesota and other cities across the country.
Community disruption: The brief describes residents sheltering in place and avoiding normal life, with impacts on schools (including significant absences and some districts offering remote learning) and health care (patients avoiding hospitals and clinics out of fear).
Impacts on local law enforcement: The brief says agents often wear vests labeled “POLICE” — and wear masks and lack clear identification — which blurs the line between federal and local law enforcement and erodes trust. It links that distrust to real public safety consequences: fewer residents reporting crime, fewer witnesses cooperating, and police resources diverted to respond to community confusion and fear.

The brief supports a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to restore the status quo — returning conditions to what they were before Operation Metro Surge began, and letting local communities govern without disruption and harm to their residents, public safety, and city services.

Mayors and local leaders joined because we share a common interest in protecting residents’ rights, preserving local capacity, and keeping communities safe — and we’ve seen similar “surge” deployments harm public safety and local services in other places.
Over 80 cities and local leaders have signed on to the amicus brief.