MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis released an updated impact assessment Wednesday estimating that Operation Metro Surge cost the city, its residents and its businesses nearly $700 million in lost economic activity, the same day Congress sent President Trump a $70 billion bill to fund ICE and Border Patrol through the remainder of his term, with no restrictions attached.
The collision of the two events frames the ongoing tension between the federal government’s immigration enforcement agenda and the communities absorbing its cost. The House voted Tuesday along party lines, 214-212, to pass the $70 billion measure. The Senate had approved it the previous week, sending the bill to Trump’s desk awaiting his signature.
Republicans used the budget reconciliation process to pass the legislation, bypassing a potential Senate filibuster after bipartisan negotiations over the funding collapsed. The result: no guardrails on how the agencies operate, no body camera mandates, no reporting requirements on detention practices.
“It’s very dangerous,” Heidi Altman, Vice President of Policy at the National Immigration Law Center, said to NPR. Altman stated that in the past, Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) annual funding bills included specific guardrails such as requirements for agencies to report data on who they are detaining and specific treatment of pregnant women in custody. She said the agency will now move forward with even fewer accountability mechanisms than previously in place.
Hours after, the city of Minneapolis released its most complete accounting yet of what Operation Metro Surge inflicted on the community it targeted. The updated numbers more than triple the city’s preliminary February estimate and cover December 2025 through April 2026.
“Throughout Operation Metro Surge, I saw two very different stories unfold in Minneapolis,” Mayor Jacob Frey said. “One was a story of disruption, fear, and economic harm. The other was a story of neighbors looking out for one another, businesses refusing to give up, and communities coming together during an incredibly difficult time. This assessment documents both. As we move forward, our shared responsibility is not only to acknowledge what happened, but to also invest in the people and neighborhoods that carried the burden of it.”
The livelihood toll, according to city officials, accounts for the vast majority of the damage. The assessment estimates businesses lost $445 million in revenue while workers lost $152 million in wages. Emergency rent assistance needs totaled $63 million, food security gaps reached $9 million and mental health costs were estimated at $7 million. Youth and education disruptions added $2 million more, with Minneapolis Public Schools serving roughly 441,000 fewer meals than the same period the prior year and student departures running approximately 70 percent higher year over year.
The city’s Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging department analyzed data showing that most ICE activity concentrated in the Central and Whittier neighborhoods. Statewide, people from Ecuador accounted for more than 1,000 arrests, followed by those from Mexico with close to 900. The assessment notes that 29 percent of Minneapolis residents missed medical appointments during the surge and that mental health needs could affect as many as one in five residents, including approximately 16,000 children who may develop conditions over the next decade. City payroll, police overtime and operational expenses consumed nearly $10 million in city resources on top of those broader losses.
“While we will never know the full scope of the Surge’s impact on our community, this report stands as an important record of what our community members endured and how they showed up for each other,” said Rachel Sayre, Director of Minneapolis Emergency Management, whose team led the assessment. “We are incredibly grateful to the City departments, outside partners and community networks that provided insight into the impact of Operation Metro Surge to help guide recovery efforts. We remain all in this together.”
The updated assessment includes a recovery investment plan. The city has committed to refunding license fees for 1,200 businesses under its Small Business Resiliency Fund for $1.7 million and will cover fees for businesses that have yet to file. The plan also includes support for commercial corridor events and cultural market grants. An additional $3.8 million in emergency rent assistance is being distributed, supplemented by $3 million donated by the Wilson Foundation.
Operation Metro Surge ran from December 2025 through February 2026, deploying up to 3,000 federal agents across the Minneapolis metro area. The operation resulted in more than 3,789 arrests and three deaths: Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both shot and killed by federal agents, and Victor Manuel Diaz, who died in ICE custody. The killings of Good and Pretti triggered the months-long congressional standoff over DHS funding that followed, ultimately ending in April when Trump signed legislation funding DHS agencies outside of immigration enforcement, concluding a 76-day shutdown. The ICE and Border Patrol funding resolved Tuesday completes that chapter on the administration’s terms.
Operation Metro Surge ran from December 2025 through February 2026, deploying up to 3,000 federal immigration enforcement agents across the Minneapolis metro area. The operation resulted in more than 3,789 arrests and three deaths total, including Good and Pretti, who were shot and killed by agents, and Victor Manuel Diaz, who died in ICE custody. On Jan. 28, Minnesota Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz found that ICE had violated at least 96 court orders in Minnesota since Jan. 1, 2026.
The city’s full recovery plan and the updated assessment are available on the Minneapolis Forward page at minneapolismn.gov.
