The Trump administration is withdrawing approximately 700 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from Minnesota, according to sources familiar with the deployment plans, marking one of the largest regional reallocations of immigration enforcement personnel in recent years.
The drawdown, confirmed by the Associated Press, will redirect agents to southern border states and major metropolitan areas where the administration has prioritized expanded detention and deportation operations. The move comes as ICE seeks to significantly increase its enforcement footprint nationwide under directives from acting director Tom Homan.
"Minnesota has been a lower priority for enforcement actions relative to other regions," a Homeland Security official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "We're reallocating resources to where they're needed most."
The state has approximately 270,000 foreign-born residents, according to Census data, including significant populations of Somali, Hmong, and Latino immigrants. While Minnesota is not considered a major entry point for unauthorized immigration, it has substantial immigrant communities that advocates say will be affected by reduced ICE presence.
Where Are Agents Going?
According to internal deployment documents reviewed by the AP, the 700 agents will be reassigned primarily to Texas, Arizona, and California, as well as detention facilities the administration is expanding in several states. Some agents will also be sent to major cities including New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where ICE is planning increased interior enforcement operations.
The redeployment reflects the administration's broader strategy of concentrating resources on areas with higher volumes of both unauthorized border crossings and established immigrant populations. Officials have said they intend to dramatically increase deportations, a goal that requires both more agents and expanded detention capacity.
Local Reaction Splits Along Familiar Lines
Minnesota's political leaders offered sharply divided reactions to the news. Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, said the withdrawal demonstrated the administration's "misplaced priorities" and raised questions about public safety cooperation between federal and state law enforcement.
"ICE agents in Minnesota weren't just focused on immigration enforcement—they also worked task forces on human trafficking, drug smuggling, and organized crime," Walz said in a statement. "Pulling them out weakens those partnerships."
Republican state legislators, however, welcomed the move as a sign that resources were being properly allocated to border security. "Minnesota is not on the southern border," said State Senator Warren Limmer, who chairs the Senate's public safety committee. "These agents should be where the crisis is."
Immigrant advocacy organizations expressed mixed feelings. While some noted that reduced ICE presence could decrease fear in immigrant communities, others worried that the redeployment signaled broader enforcement expansion.
"This is not about Minnesota becoming safer," said Veronica Mendez Moore, an organizer with the immigrant rights group Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha. "It's about the federal government building up capacity for mass deportations everywhere."
Operational Impact
The practical effects of the drawdown will take months to materialize, according to current and former ICE officials. The agency maintains field offices in St. Paul and Bloomington, and while those offices will remain open, they will operate with significantly reduced staffing.
Former ICE officials noted that large-scale reallocations often create logistical challenges, particularly regarding agent familiarity with local communities, court systems, and law enforcement partnerships that take years to build.
"You can't just drop 700 agents into Texas and expect them to be as effective as agents who've worked those communities for a decade," said John Sandweg, who served as acting ICE director during the Obama administration. "There's a learning curve, and that can reduce efficiency in the short term."
The administration has not announced a timeline for the transfers, though officials said the process would begin "immediately" and could take several months to complete. As Americans like to say, 'all politics is local'—even in the nation's capital, and in this case, the local politics of immigration enforcement are being reshaped from Washington to the Upper Midwest.
