Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other city officials condemned the economic and social impacts of ICE operations across the Twin Cities as Operation Metro Surge concludes. Frey called the agency’s presence “destructive” and also thanked the Minneapolis community for “standing up in brilliant fashion.”

MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR JACOB FREY (D): Good afternoon, yesterday it was announced that Operation Metro Surge will be coming to an end and at the same time the damage caused by this operation has been staggering. We knew from the very beginning that this was not about safety, it was not even about immigration. This was about stoking fear and ultimately chaos in the communities that we love. Our communities stood up in brilliant fashion. Neighbors stood up for neighbors. Groceries were dropped off for people that were otherwise afraid to go outside. We had people standing watch on a daycare. We had Minneapolis residents and well beyond saying that what is important right now is that we are united as a large family here in Minneapolis and we’re all a part of that family. Since it began in December of 2025, this unprecedented federal escalation has upended daily life. It has eroded trust and inflicted a whole lot of harm on the operation that we need to provide as a city. The whole world’s been watching. Messages from across the country have reminded us that we’re not alone and the two times that I have left Minneapolis, what we have been met with is a whole lot of love. People are inspired by what is taking place in Minneapolis and I gotta tell you, I’m among those that are truly inspired by the residents that have stood up. Today we’re here to talk about how destructive this operation has been to our city but also how we plan to move forward. Our city team has had boots on the ground from the very beginning and whether that’s community service officers that have delivered food to families that are in need or an operations emergency operations plan that has been executed from those early days in December to a both preemptive and responsive legal team that has been stepping up to the plate making sure that these unconstitutional infractions are not just noticed but we have a legal response to them. And then of course as part of this emergency we’ve also seen great damage. Our emergency management team led by Director [Rachel] Sayre has been doing very hard and deliberate work to calculate what these damages have been while we are simultaneously while those damages are simultaneously being inflicted. At least 76,000 people are in need of urgent relief and assistance. We’ve seen at least 203 million dollars in economic impact in just January alone. We were seeing somewhere between 10 and 20 million dollars worth of losses to small and local businesses per week. Small businesses have collectively lost more than 80 million dollars in revenue. Hotel cancellations at this point will exceed 5 million dollars and more than 75,000 additional people are experiencing some form of food insecurity. Thousands of school-aged children are in need of support and services. This is not even an exhaustive list. There is much more. Far beyond that we will ever have to comprehend. It begs the question, was it worth it? Was this operation that has inflicted so much damage on our city that we can indeed calculate in real dollars, was it worth it? Was the chaos worth it? Was the fear worth it? Certainly this operation did not improve safety and it indeed decimated trust. But I know this city. Minneapolis does not let hardship define us. We define ourselves by how we rise and how we respond. Our focus must now be on moving forward and making sure that our neighbors, our businesses, have our support. So we’re going to do what we always have done. We’re going to rebuild, we will restore trust, and we’re going to move forward as a unified city. Just as Minneapolis responded when federal agents sowed chaos in our streets and disrupted daily life, what you will now see Minneapolis responding in unified fashion is we’re going to step up for those small local businesses. We’re going to make sure that we experience that big Minneapolis comeback in full. People from around the country have asked, what can we do to help? And the answer is upon this Operation Metro Surge ending, come to Minneapolis. Support these local entrepreneurs. Support these immigrant-owned businesses that have added so greatly to the fabric of our communities and the fabric of these corridors. It’s about the easiest ask that I could possibly make of you. Buy some incredible food. Stay at a hotel. Minneapolis is a tremendous city, one that I myself fell in love with and decided to start my life here. I am not unique. There are countless immigrants, and whether they’re from northern Virginia or Mexico or Europe, people have come to this city to start a life and they love it. And so Minneapolis taxpayers should not be left to foot the bill of this situation that has been created by the federal government. And so we’re calling on the federal government to fully step up, to provide direct financial assistance to our city, to stabilize our small businesses, and to help residents recover. Emergency response reimbursement for humanitarian assistance, infrastructure, public safety support, and then economic recovery funding. We’re also asking the state of Minnesota to stand with us, to partner in securing resources, expediting relief, and ensuring we have the tools that are necessary to recover quickly. We know that Minneapolis is the economic engine of our entire state. For every three dollars worth of tax revenue that Minneapolis raises, we get one dollar back, and we are proud. We are proud to be that economic engine, and we are proud to help support the incredible smaller communities and towns and cities throughout our state. And at the same time, Minneapolis has experienced a great deal of duress over the last couple of months. As Minnesota, we now have the opportunity to stand together. By standing for Minneapolis, you are standing for our state. For those that are beyond Minnesota, by standing for Minneapolis, you’re standing up for America. I’m going to now turn it over to Director Rachel Sayre of Emergency Management. And I just want to note, we have done a great deal of work since 2020. People have witnessed the arc of our story here locally. Following the murder of George Floyd, the subsequent unrest that we saw, we didn’t just sit back on our hands. We did a whole lot of emergency preparation and work. We ran simulations. We conducted trainings, all culminating in a trip out to Emmitsburg, Maryland, where FEMA was headquartered for their simulations.

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