ICE surge prompts street patrols surrounding Minneapolis schools
By: Matt Lavietes (NBC News)
Republicans are actually doing what they've warned about since Reagan told us that government was the problem. Trump Republicans are now imposing a BIGGER Big Government onto the American people. Trump has created a Big Government where Americans don't matter any longer. There is no possible way to justify this as being America First. There is no rational way to claim Trump's BIGGER Big Government is Making America Great Again.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Jan. 17, 2026, MINNEAPOLIS — Standing outside his son's elementary school, a father heard a warning crackle over his walkie-talkie: a suspicious car nearby.
At another school, volunteer Joe Dirkswager stood watch, nodding at passing vehicles. Miles away in St. Paul, Matthew Kearns was questioning unfamiliar individuals near the school he graduated from decades ago.
The three are among the volunteers who have begun patrolling streets around elementary and high schools in the Twin Cities, using walkie-talkies, Signal group chats and whistles to warn families and school staff of immigration enforcement activities. The informal patrols have emerged amid a sharp surge of federal immigration personnel in Minnesota and the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer last week.
On Thursday afternoon, about two dozen adults lined the perimeter of Green Central Elementary School in central Minneapolis, just blocks from where Good was killed. Patrol volunteers scanned nearby streets and relayed updates in real time.
The father, Greg, a 42-year-old who asked that his last name not be published because of safety concerns for his family, said the patrols have forced families into impossible decisions on a daily basis.
"Every morning I feel like I'm forced with the choice of 'Do I try to do patrol to protect my daughter and her preschool or do I come to my son's kindergarten to do patrol here?'" he asked.
"Those are the kind of choices that the community is being faced with."
Greg and eight other volunteers who spoke with NBC News said the patrols are especially aimed at protecting parents and school staff who are not U.S. citizens and fear being detained while coming and going from schools.
More than 3,000 federal immigration personnel have descended on Minnesota in recent weeks, and more than 2,500 undocumented immigrants have been apprehended in Minneapolis since November, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The enforcement push — dubbed Operation Metro Surge — follows renewed scrutiny of a state fraud investigation involving a number of individuals of Somali descent, a link that community leaders say has fueled fear beyond those accused.
The heightened enforcement has coincided with clashes between teachers, parents and federal law enforcement officers.
On Wednesday, a parent was detained by ICE at a school bus stop in Robbinsdale, a Minneapolis suburb, according to a statement from Robbinsdale Area Schools Superintendent Teri Staloch. And last week, on the day Good was killed, U.S. Border Patrol agents clashed with teachers and protesters at the nearby Roosevelt High School. At least one educator was detained and released, according to the teachers union.
Border Patrol agents detain a man near Roosevelt High School during dismissal time the same day Renee Good was killed.Kerem Yucel / AFP - Getty Images
In response to the disruptions, the Minneapolis Public School District said last week it would offer online classes to its roughly 30,000 students until Feb. 12. St. Paul Public Schools, which serves more than 30,000 students, said Thursday it would offer a similar online option and will close school several days next week to prepare.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that "ICE is not going to schools to arrest children — we are protecting children," and that "criminals are no longer able to hide in America's schools to avoid arrest."
"Our officers are highly trained and in the face of rioting, doxxing, and physical attacks, they have shown professionalism," she added. "They are not afraid of loud noises and whistles."
Bearing witness
Kearns, 56, said the heightened enforcement has been visible beyond the schools where organized patrols first appeared. On Friday afternoon, he drove around Riverview Elementary School on Minneapolis' west side — which has a large Latino population — watching sites he said have become flashpoints in recent weeks.
"We have basically a Gestapo coming in and infiltrating our neighborhood and just doing whatever they feel like they want to do," he said.
The sightings pushed Kearns to begin patrolling the area around his former school.
"I grew up, born and raised here, went to this school, played football here, kissed my wife when I was a little boy," he said, pointing to a field on the school's property. "We protect our kids in our community. I mean, that's what every other community would do in this situation or any situation."
As NBC News spoke with Kearns, a handful of volunteers — most of them parents — watched nearby. Several appeared visibly shaken, declining to discuss how the patrols were organized or how volunteers communicate, citing safety concerns about publicizing their plans. St. Paul Public Schools expressed gratitude for the "care and concern" from the community but noted the patrols are being organized independently. The Minneapolis Public School District did not immediately return a request for comment.
The patrols in Minneapolis mirror tactics that have emerged in other Democratic-run cities amid stepped-up immigration enforcement. In recent months, volunteers in cities including Chicago and Los Angeles have deployed similar patrols.
Leah Hood, 42, an instructor at a nearby university, said she started patrolling Green Central Elementary School this week after hearing from her friends who were already volunteering. She said the presence of observers feels crucial in a moment when families fear encounters could happen without witnesses.
"I mean, how horrifying that you would be kidnapped off the street while coming and going from school at all?" she asked. "But how much more horrifying and terrifying is it to think that that could happen and no one would see it, and no one would be able to attest to the fact that this is real, and they did this to you?"
Hood pointed to directives from state and local officials in recent days. Prosecutors have asked the public to submit videos related to Good's killing, as much of the evidence gathered by the FBI remains inaccessible to local authorities. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz this week encouraged Minnesotans to "peacefully film ICE agents as they conduct their activities."
Kids scared and confused
Parents and teachers who spoke with NBC News said children have been fearful and confused amid the heightened enforcement.
Desiree, who has patrolled Green Central Elementary School for weeks and asked that her last name not be published due to safety concerns, said her son has repeatedly asked about law enforcement sightings nearby.
"It's not a mystery to them that something terrible is happening and that it's happening right around them," she said.
Greg said the community, shaped by past trauma over George Floyd's killing, has responded with solidarity.
"You get on this corner and all day long it's just cars passing by, and everyone's waving and saying 'thank you' because we're all looking out for each other," he said.
Dirkswager, 38, said the events last week compelled him to patrol Bancroft Elementary School in the Central neighborhood of Minneapolis, blocks away from where Floyd was murdered in 2020.
"The events last week pushed me to the point where I had to get outside and do something — even if it's just standing on a corner and blowing my silly little whistle at federal agents that are driving by," he said.
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Trump Republicans, in typically stupid fashion, are losing the hearts & minds of the heartland. This crap might have worked in the segregated south during the 1950s but has no place in the 21st century. A small government could not do what Trump is doing. Republicans have sold their souls to a penthouse billionaire from New York la la land who cannot do anything without Big Government.
Trump Republicans are now the party of BIGGER Big Government. The people of the heartland are now having to defend themselves against Trump's BIGGER Big Government. How does any of this Make America Great Again?
Trump Republicans, in typically stupid fashion, are losing the hearts & minds of the heartland
per the WSJ poll that came out the other day, republicans are +11 over democrats on handling immigration.
Trump is using a BIGGER Big Government to handle immigration. Trump has created the very thing TEA Party Republicans claimed they loathed. Does this mean that TEA Party Republicans were liars?
How is deploying 2,000 to 3,000 Federal forces to Minneapolis a small government policy? Trump is essentially threatening Minneapolis with martial law. How is that a small government response?
Trump is unilaterally creating a BIGGER Big Government that imposes its authority on the American people. Trump's government is bigger and more intrusive than Clinton's, Obama's, or Biden's governments. How can any Republican defend Trump creating a BIGGER Big Government?
The REAL Republicans have left the Trumpist Party.
So, who is left?
By all means, provide any evidence that the TEA Party Republicans opposed immigration enforcement and favored open borders.
The idea that "TEA party Republicans" would support giving billons of dollars worth of fraud going to migrants and oppose stopping is is just insane. You can't expect that to be a serious rebuttal, can you?
Even Chatgpt can't come to your rescue:
Did the tea party movement support open borders and welfare for immigrants?
Short answer: No. The Tea Party movement did not support open borders or welfare for immigrants.
Here’s the clearer breakdown:
Immigration / Borders
The Tea Party generally opposed open borders.
Most Tea Party activists supported strong border enforcement, illegal immigration crackdowns, and opposition to amnesty for undocumented immigrants.
The movement emphasized rule of law, arguing that immigration should be legal and controlled.
Welfare and Government Benefits
The Tea Party strongly opposed welfare expansion, including government benefits for immigrants.
Many Tea Party supporters objected to any public benefits for undocumented immigrants, and often even to expanded benefits for legal non-citizens.
This stance came from the broader Tea Party philosophy of small government, low taxes, and reduced federal spending.
Wow! Just like Republicans who oppose the Calhounesque attempts to nullify federal immigration laws.
In Congress, what is left are almost all Trump sycophants and/or cowards.
I never said anything about the TEA Party supporting immigration. That's a red herring. Are you claiming the main motivation for TEA Party Republicans was not small government? Are you attempting to rewrite history to claim that the TEA Party was only an anti-immigration movement?
Trump is creating a BIGGER Big Government that restricts the rights of American citizens. I am directly asking if TEA Party Republicans would support that?
Lol. Read what I, and CHATGPT wrote.
rump is creating a BIGGER Big Government that restricts the rights of American citizens.
No, he's not.
ectly asking if TEA Party Republicans would support that
and, as I've explained numerous times, of course they would. People aren't nearly as dumb as you seem to think. They are capable of supporting less spending in general while increasing it in certain necessary areas. I can't even picture the mongoloid who would find "you want a balanced budget, therefore you can't spend money to deport criminals" a compelling argument.
Tea Party republicans would oppose a number of the policies of the Trump admin. Enforcing the rule of law and deporting illegals would not be on the list.
Federal immigration laws are administrative laws and not criminal laws. Deportation is not a court imposed punishment for a crime. Deportation is an administrative function for revoking a permit to reside in the US. Overstaying visas or work permits is an administrative immigration issue and not a national security issue.
The only criminal violation is entering the US without permission; illegal entry. And the criminal punishment includes fines, incarceration, and/or expulsion. Illegal entry is a national security issue and not an administrative immigration issue.
So, Trump (like any good Democrat) is using a national security pretext to create a BIGGER Big Government. Trump has militarized administrative officials and allowed those administrative officials authority to circumvent the Constitution and infringe upon the rights of American citizens.
Why are Republicans cheering Trump's BIGGER Big Government? Do they actually believe they have some sort of magic immunity that protects them from a BIGGER Big Government?
100% false. I stopped reading there. Get the basics correct if you want to have a discussion.
Immigration really is regulated by civil administrative law similar to civil laws governing trade laws, environmental laws, and labor laws. In the United States civil law is distinct from criminal law. They're not interchangeable.
If you don't understand the difference between civil law and criminal law then you're in no position to lecture others.
Liberals have a tendency to justify their Big Government actions with 'ends justify the means' arguments. Liberals readily toss the Constitution under the buss to impose Big Government on the American people. Liberals tend to excuse their Big Government impacts on the American people as acceptable collateral damage to achieve political goals.
A win is a win. And it matters not if the American people lose.
No kidding. And there are plenty of criminal laws addressing illegal immigration.
Really? Can you name a few of these criminal offenses?
Right off the top of my head.
Reentry after being removed once.
Sure. Start with entering without proper authorization.
Yes, violating the sovereignty of the United States by crossing the international border without permission is a crime. But that is not strictly an immigration issue. National sovereignty is a recognized fundamental principal of international law.
What are some other criminal offenses are within the jurisdiction of ICE?
Yes, that is a national sovereignty issue. But if the United States refuses to comply with the fundamental principles of international law safeguarding national sovereignty then what is the moral justification for the US defending its own sovereignty?
Trump violating the national sovereignty of other nations make a mockery of immigration enforcement. Trump has adopted the policy of a lawless, rogue state that uses violence and force to impose its will on people of other nations and the people of the US.
Trump is relying on the authority of the gun to justify everything. That's a BIGGER Big Government solution.