Did ice drag an American citizen out of his home in minneapolis
Executive summary
Multiple independent news reports, community accounts and legal filings say U.S. citizens in Minneapolis and the Twin Cities were physically removed, detained or otherwise impacted during Operation Metro Surge — including video-circulated incidents of people being dragged or taken from homes and cars — while federal and DHS sources frame the operation as targeted at criminal noncitizens [1] [2] [3] [4]. Local officials, civil-rights groups and a recent Minnesota lawsuit contend the surge has led to wrongful detentions and racial profiling of citizens, and a federal judge has rebuked ICE for violating directives amid the crackdown [5] [6] [7].
1. Hard evidence: videos and community reports that a citizen was physically removed
Multiple outlets and community organizations documented specific incidents in which people identified as U.S. citizens were physically removed from vehicles, residences or community sites during the enforcement operations; for example, a video widely circulated showed Aliya Rahman, described as a 42-year-old U.S. citizen and Minneapolis resident, being forcibly removed from her car while loudly protesting that she was autistic and a citizen [1], and residents at the Little Earth community reported and recorded at least three individuals being removed by ICE from the facility [3].
2. Local news and eyewitness accounts: an American grandfather taken from his home
Reporting compiled by local outlets describes the case of ChongLy “Saly” Scott Thao, a 57-year-old Hmong U.S. citizen who was handcuffed, carried outside in minimal clothing and covered with a blanket after a St. Paul raid, an episode that prompted public outrage and which local reporting tied directly to the federal operation [2].
3. Official line and federal framing: “removing the worst of the worst”
The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have publicly characterized Operation Metro Surge as focused on criminal noncitizens — issuing lists of arrests and naming convicted offenders removed from Minnesota streets — and defended the surge as targeting violent criminals and gang members [4] [8] [9]. DHS also released aggregate arrest figures, calling the operation the largest such enforcement in the state [10] [4].
4. Conflict between community claims and federal denials about citizen detentions
Community groups, tribal leaders and civil liberties organizations say U.S. citizens, particularly Indigenous and people of color, were stopped and detained, and they point to systemic obstacles in tracking citizen detentions because DHS databases do not permit filtering by “United States” birthplace — a gap highlighted by advocates complaining of missing data and repeated denials that citizens were being detained [3]. The ACLU and Minnesota officials have described instances of children and citizens being dragged or arrested during raids and have used that language in calls for oversight [6] [5].
5. Legal and journalistic scrutiny: courts and major outlets weigh in
Minnesota officials sued to halt the surge, alleging thousands of armed federal agents have committed constitutional violations and that U.S. citizens have been unlawfully detained because of racial profiling [5]. A federal judge subsequently condemned ICE for disobeying court directives related to the crackdown amid reporting that two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal agents during the operation, underscoring the heightened legal scrutiny and contested facts on the ground [7].
6. How to read competing narratives: context and open questions
The picture that emerges from reporting is mixed: on-the-ground videos and local reporting show U.S. citizens being dragged or removed from homes or cars during the operation [1] [2] [3], while federal statements emphasize arrests of noncitizen criminals and defend tactics as lawful [4] [8]. The exact scale and number of citizen detentions remain disputed, partly because of database and reporting limitations noted by tribal advocates and because DHS officials have pushed back against some citizen-detention claims [3] [4].