• Author is professor of sociology and public policy at Princeton University.​​​​​​
• What happened in Minneapolis is just one part of larger story. For this reason, issue is not just today's practices, but how these practices will be normalized in future, what limits will be considered acceptable

ISTANBUL

At the beginning of December, the US Department of Homeland Security launched a major immigration operation called Operation Metro Surge [1]. Officials described the operation as the most extensive [2] enforcement action to date. Thousands of federal officers, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and border security units, were deployed to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul region in the state of Minnesota. The notable aspect of the operation was that it was conducted in a major metropolitan area, far from the US southern border. The goal was to increase the detention and deportation of immigrants.

On Jan. 6, it was reported that approximately 2,000 [3] federal agents were dispatched to the region. The next day, during an operation in south Minneapolis, an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old US citizen Renee Nicole Macklin Good. [4] Officials stated it was self-defense; however, many did not believe that explanation. Emerging footage also raised serious questions about the narrative. The incident caused great outrage. Protests began in Minneapolis and many parts of the country. Tens of thousands [5] of people took to the streets. The demonstrations opened up a debate not only on immigration policies but also on the limits of federal use of force.

On Jan. 16, the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul filed a lawsuit against the federal government to halt the operation. [6] The lawsuit argued that the practices violated constitutional rights and harmed the public. Today, lawsuits regarding ICE's powers and methods are still ongoing in federal courts.

A new death in Minneapolis on Jan. 24 [7] further inflamed the debates. According to media reports, Alex Pretti lost his life during an encounter with federal agents. The details of that incident have not yet been clarified, and officials said the investigation is ongoing. However, news of a second death deepened the anger and mistrust in the city. For many, this suggests that the matter is no longer an isolated incident but points to a broader and systemic problem. Local officials and civil society organizations emphasize that the successive deaths have damaged public trust [8] as much as public order. Thus, Minneapolis has become an example of how immigration enforcement produces not only legal but also social consequences.

- A history of partisan struggle

Such conflicts are actually not new. States and the federal government in the US have long been at odds [9] over immigration. In 2010, the state of Arizona passed a law giving police the authority to ask for people's immigration status. The federal government filed a lawsuit against that law. [10] In 2012, the Supreme Court struck down significant parts of the law.

Similarly, in 2022 and 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sent migrants crossing the border by bus [11] to Democrat-run cities like New York and Chicago. That was seen as a clear political message to the administration in Washington.

These examples show that immigration enforcement often turns into a partisan struggle. Republican officials generally highlight harsh enforcement in Democratic cities. Democratic administrations, on the other hand, try to stop these steps by Republican states in the courts.

Therefore, it would be incomplete to view today's immigration policies merely as a security issue. Just like the border wall [12] debates, these policies also carry a strong symbolic meaning. Although the extent to which the border wall stops migration is debatable, it took center stage in politics because it conveyed a message of "toughness" and "control." Similarly, today, visible and harsh measures give voters the impression that something is being done. Such steps create a strong and decisive image, regardless of their actual effects.

However, quieter but effective solutions often remain in the background. For example, the system called E-Verify allows employers to check the legal status of their employees. Despite this, in Texas, this system is largely not mandatory for the private sector. [13] In other words, while harsh operations are conducted on one hand, the employment of undocumented workers can be turned a blind eye to on the other.

- The cost to public safety

Another dimension of these debates is the long-term effect such operations create in cities. As immigration enforcement hardens, not only immigrants but everyone living in the city is affected. People become more uneasy in public spaces. The presence of federal agents creates fear and mistrust, especially in communities that have had bad experiences with the police in the past. Local administrations state that this situation damages the relationship between the public and public institutions. [14] Cooperating with the police, reporting crimes, or witnessing can become more difficult. This, instead of increasing public safety, can produce counterproductive results in some cases. Furthermore, the cost of such operations is not ignored. An additional burden is placed on local resources, courts and emergency services. All of this shows that immigration policy creates concrete and lasting effects not only at the border or on paper but also in the daily life of cities.

Ultimately, the resulting picture is this: immigration policy relies more on political messages than real solutions. As a country with the world's largest [15] immigration detention system, the US sets an example in this field. Therefore, the steps taken here do not only affect domestic politics. How America handles immigration affects not only its own internal politics but also how other countries approach this issue. What happened in Minneapolis is just one part of this larger story. For this reason, the issue is not just today's practices, but how these practices will be normalized in the future and what limits will be considered acceptable.

[1] https://www.minnpost.com/greater-minnesota/2026/01/ice-takes-operation-metro-surge-into-greater-minnesota/

[2] https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-ice-noem-minnesota-somali-db661df6de1131a034da2bda4bb3d817

[3] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/2000-federal-agents-sent-to-minneapolis-area-to-carry-out-largest-immigration-operation-ever-ice-says

[4] https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/ice-agent-shoots-kills-woman-in-minneapolis/

[5] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fatal-ice-shooting-minneapolis-activist-sets-stage-national-protests-2026-01-10/

[6] https://www.minneapolismn.gov/news/2026/january/ag-lawsuit/

[7] https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/us/minneapolis-shooting-ice

[8] https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/minnesota-police-concerns-federal-immigration-agents/

[9] https://www.nyulawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/NYULawReview-88-6-Gulasekaram-Ramakrishnan.pdf

[10] https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/citing-conflict-federal-law-department-justice-challenges-arizona-immigration-law

[11] https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/migrant-asylum-seeker-busing

[12] https://books.google.com.tr/books?hl=en&lr=&id=GVxUEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=Peter+Andreas+border+games&ots=lFGeSr7155&sig=SbwcNwtGfGnmcgrt216LpVC9IxQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

[13] https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/05/texas-e-verify-requirements-immigration/

[14] https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/minnesota-police-concerns-federal-immigration-agents/

[15] https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/countries/americas/united-states

​​​​​​​*Opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu.