Tensions have been rising throughout the United States, especially in North Dakota’s neighboring state, Minnesota. Minnesota has been the center of a lot of news in the last year.
Governor Walz joined former Vice President Kamala Harris on the campaign trail in the 2024 presidential race. Later in June, Melissa Hortman, Speaker Emerita of the Minnesota House, and her husband Mark, were killed in their home. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot and hospitalized in this political attack. Tensions reached a peak at the end of the year when the Trump administration deployed 3,000 I.C.E agents to the Twin Cities area in Operation Metro Surge.
I.C.E was formed in a post 9/11 America with the goal of improving national security through preventing transnational crime. In the big picture I.C.E is a new program, having only existed under 4 presidents and has been run very differently under each one. From Barack Obama’s Felons not Families, his goal was to focus deportations on felons, not long-term undocumented immigrants, to Donald Trump’s promise of blocking all migration from “third world countries” to allow the “US system to fully recover”.
The number of people in detention by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement increased more than 75% from January 2025 to January 2026, according to the American Immigration Council. This uptick came following Trump’s inauguration. I.C.E under the Trump administration has become notorious for thousands of arrests, detaining children and legal citizens, and the use of violent tactics.
Conflict between I.C.E and Minneapolis came to a head when U.S citizen Renee Good was shot four times in an encounter with I.C.E officers. Official claims said that Good had hit the I.C.E agent, wounding and antagonizing him, but the videos shows a different situation. Good had been driving down the street alerting people that I.C.E was on the way, a perfectly legal activity. The I.C.E officers are shown yelling commands at Good. As she turns her car around to leave her last words are “that’s fine dude I’m not mad at you”.
Good was then shot 4 times and died on the scene.
Good died one mile away from where George Floyd was murdered by police only five years earlier. Distrust in the Minneapolis police had stayed high after George Floyd’s death but had been getting better in the past year. Minneapolis police Chief Brian O’hara is worried I.C.E will reset this progress between police and the city. In an interview with New York Times after Goods death O’hara talked about this fear, “I mean I’m having a hard time describing it. I just thought, [expletive], this is it. You know? This is potentially 2020 all over again. The destruction of the city.”
The officer who shot and killed Good has faced no charges. There have been conflicting statements about Good’s death. The Trump administration says that Good was a “domestic terrorist” while Renee Good’s wife gave this statement to the Post “We were raising our son to believe that no matter where you come from or what you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness. Renee lived this belief every day. She is pure love. She is pure joy. She is pure sunshine.”
Post Renee Good’s death, Minneapolis exploded. There were multiple protests in the state and across the country. Anger, distrust and fear grew as the video of Good’s death spread across the internet. Inner city schools were cancelled for the week, as I.C.E and Minnesotans collided across the state. Minnesota citizens and locals called for an abolishment of I.C.E, while national Democrats had mixed feelings, some calling for complete stop of I.C.E operations in Minnesota while some advocated only for reform.
17 days after Good, another person was killed by I.C.E. Alex Pretti was also an American citizen, an ICU nurse who was shot and killed by I.C.E agents. He was seen defending a woman who had been pepper sprayed by I.C.E. Pretti was in legal possession of a firearm at his death and this caused speculation about the incident. Kristi Noem claims that Pretti was “brandishing” the gun. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller referred to Pretti as “an assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents.” These statements were met with backlash as Pretti’s death was also recorded, and there is no evidence of him ever reaching for his weapon.
In fact, Pretti’s gun was removed from him before he was pinned to the sidewalk. Pretti was shot ten times and died at the scene. His death is being investigated as a homicide.
Both of these deaths led to a change in I.C.E actions in Minnesota. Tom Homan, the head of the Minneapolis I.C.E. operations, says the surge is coming to an end mid-February. The Department of Homeland Security says that only 500 I.C.E agents remain in Minnesota, still almost five times more officers than before Metro Surge. Detainments are still being made across the state.
Events in Minnesota have affected North Dakota. On Jan. 29, two state senators and three state representatives visited Minneapolis to support the other Minnesota legislators, discuss federal overreach, and listen to testimony. “There’s always been this push and pull between the federal and state rights, and right now, I think the federal government is really overstepping their bounds in almost a violent way,” said Senator Ryan Braunberger of N.D. District 10 in an interview with the InForum. Over 50 senators from 15 different states met in Minnesota to discuss the I.C.E. operations.
The Deportation Data Project by Stateline shows that there were 202 ICE immigration arrests in North Dakota last year, between Jan. 20 and Oct. 15. In 2024, there were 81 immigration arrests in North Dakota over that same time period.
Fargo has had multiple protests against I.C.E. One being the march that took place in downtown Fargo Feb 1. where around 100 people gathered. Davies High School had a walkout with about 40 students, garnering news coverage. On Jan. 30, local stores participated in the I.C.E out day, closing their doors to customers. Protests continue in North Dakota, and around the country, as I.C.E. operations stay at the same level without enough accountability.
