Who is ICE targeting
Executive summary
ICE operations in recent weeks have explicitly focused on Somali immigrants in the Twin Cities, with local leaders saying as many as 100 federal agents were deployed to target undocumented Somali residents [1] [2]. Broader national directives and high arrest quotas under the current administration have pushed ICE toward large-scale sweeps — including workplace and street operations — and expanded surveillance tools that critics say are being used beyond traditional immigration targets [3] [4] [5].
1. ICE's Minneapolis focus: Somalis in the crosshairs
Local reporting and national outlets say a new operation in Minneapolis is “said to target Somali migrants,” with Twin Cities leaders and mayors publicly denouncing the targeted deployment of ICE against Somali-Americans and warning that up to 100 federal agents are operating in the metro to find undocumented Somali residents [1] [2] [6]. Axios and other outlets identify this activity as tied to a multiagency effort called Operation Twin Shield involving USCIS, ICE and the FBI, and tie it to a political backdrop in which the Somali community has been repeatedly singled out by top officials [7].
2. National playbook: quotas, sweep tactics and sanctuary-city pressure
Reporting shows a national change in ICE tactics under the current administration: the agency has been directed to sharply increase arrests, with public targets that reportedly rose to as many as 3,000 arrests per day, prompting operations that favor mass sweeps and workplace raids rather than narrowly targeted criminal prosecutions [3] [4]. Axios and other outlets say sanctuary jurisdictions have been prioritized for enforcement actions, and past operations (e.g., “Operation Midway Blitz,” Chicago) illustrate how broad enforcement campaigns can produce thousands of arrests [8] [3].
3. Who ICE has historically and recently targeted — patterns, not just places
Beyond one community in Minnesota, ICE’s 2025 enforcement pattern includes: workplace raids at large employers (meatpacking, construction, industrial plants) that can net hundreds of arrests in a single action [4]; street arrests of people with no criminal past — disproportionately Latinos, according to analysis of ICE arrest data — suggesting profiling and opportunistic “street” enforcement [9]; and designated operations aimed at jurisdictions seen as hostile to federal immigration priorities [8] [3].
4. Surveillance and expanded definitions of “targets”
Advocacy and investigative reporting say ICE has broadened its toolkit: new contracts and technology (facial recognition, phone spyware, real-time location and social media monitoring) are being used to identify people of interest, and critics argue these tools have drifted from focusing solely on undocumented migrants to surveilling protesters, journalists and activists [5] [10]. The Brennan Center and privacy-focused outlets warn that ICE tools are being repurposed to find dissenters or anti-ICE organizers, though these sources characterize that expansion as contested and politically charged [10] [5].
5. Local pushback and legal/political context
City and state officials in the Twin Cities publicly condemned the Minneapolis operation; police departments stated they were not aiding ICE, and community leaders planned organized responses to denounce the targeted deployment [6] [2]. This local resistance follows a pattern in other jurisdictions where sanctuary policies and public pushback have complicated federal enforcement drives and produced political confrontation [8] [3].
6. Human costs and criticisms: detention, deaths, and overstretched oversight
Independent reporting documents a surge in detentions and concerning outcomes: 2025 is the deadliest year for people in ICE custody in decades with at least 20 deaths recorded, while ICE has been increasing detention numbers and hiring even as oversight offices were reduced — a context that critics say heightens risks when enforcement intensifies [11]. Civil-society groups and some former officials warn that mass targets can sweep up people with no removal orders or criminal histories, exacerbating human-rights and due-process concerns [9] [3].
7. Competing viewpoints and the limits of the record
Official actors frame the ramped-up enforcement as lawfully removing people in the country without authorization and protecting public safety; DHS and ICE publications stress officer safety and agency priorities [12]. Critics — civil-rights groups, privacy advocates, and local officials — argue enforcement has become political, targeting communities like Somalis and using expansive surveillance against dissenters [1] [10] [5]. Available sources do not mention specific individual names of all targets beyond general community descriptors, nor do they provide a full ICE internal target list for the Twin Cities operation (not found in current reporting).
8. What to watch next
Watch for official ICE or DHS statements about Operation Twin Shield and for any release of warrants or target lists; monitor local court filings and detention transfer logs for evidence of who was arrested; and track reporting on whether surveillance tools are cited as the basis for particular arrests — that will determine whether critics’ claims about mission creep are borne out [7] [5] [2].