ICE Arrests Fall Nearly 12% Following Minneapolis Killings and Immigration Enforcement Shake-Up
Why It Matters
Immigration enforcement in Minnesota and across the United States has undergone a significant shift following two high-profile killings in Minneapolis involving immigration officers, triggering leadership changes and a measurable slowdown in ICE arrest activity nationwide. The developments raise questions about the durability of the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation strategy and its political consequences.
What Happened
At its peak in December 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement recorded nearly 40,000 arrests nationwide in a single month, according to data provided to UC Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project and analyzed by The Associated Press. Agents operated in high-visibility sweeps — targeting restaurant kitchens, bus stops, and Home Depot parking lots — under a strategy described by then-top Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino as “turn and burn.”
That aggressive posture came to an abrupt halt following the killings of two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, by immigration officers in Minneapolis in late January. The incident prompted a shake-up at the highest levels of federal immigration enforcement. Bovino, the public face of the crackdown, was pushed aside. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was fired in early March, a move observers connected in part to public backlash over the Minnesota operation.
Border czar Tom Homan was dispatched to Minneapolis to restructure the enforcement approach and announced a drawdown of immigration agents in the state on February 4. In the weeks that followed, ICE arrest rates declined nationally.
By the Numbers
An AP analysis of ICE arrest records reveals a clear shift in enforcement tempo following Homan’s February announcement:
- 8,347 — average weekly ICE arrests in the five weeks before the February 4 drawdown announcement
- 7,369 — average weekly ICE arrests in the five weeks following the announcement, a drop of nearly 12%
- 46% of those arrested in the five weeks before February 4 had no criminal charges or convictions; that figure dropped to 41% in the weeks after — though both figures remain above the 35% weekly average since Trump returned to office
- In Kentucky, weekly arrests more than doubled, reaching 86 by early March — among the highest counts in the state since the start of Trump’s second term
- ICE arrests also rose significantly in Indiana, North Carolina, and Florida during the same period, offsetting steep declines in Minnesota and Texas
The Enforcement Picture Remains Uneven
Despite the national decline, the slowdown has not been uniform. While arrests dropped sharply in Minnesota and Texas, several other states saw increased activity. The Trump administration has maintained that its enforcement operations target dangerous criminals living illegally in the country, with President Trump referring to them as “the worst of the worst.”
However, the data shows a more complicated picture. A significant share of those arrested have no criminal history. Federal court filings across the country document cases such as a 21-year-old Honduran man with no criminal record — the father of three U.S. citizen children — arrested during a traffic stop in suburban San Diego after reportedly being placed under ICE surveillance. A 33-year-old Venezuelan woman, described as a physician working in a medically underserved region of South Texas, was arrested alongside her five-year-old U.S. citizen daughter while en route to her husband’s asylum hearing, officials said, for overstaying her visa.
For context on how immigration enforcement intersects with criminal accountability, see a license hearing set for a bail bond company following a fatal shooting and a recent case in which an illegal alien was accused of biting a 3-year-old girl’s face at a Texas park, prompting ICE to lodge a detainer.
Zoom Out
The Minneapolis killings and subsequent political fallout represent a rare instance in which public opinion appears to have directly influenced the pace of federal immigration enforcement under the current administration. Polling following the Minnesota incident indicated the general public believed enforcement operations there went too far — an unusually direct political signal during a period when the administration had largely operated without significant course corrections.
The national arrest numbers, while lower than their December peak, remain dramatically higher than during the Biden administration, underscoring that any slowdown is relative, not a reversal of policy direction.
What’s Next
Senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council, speaking in remarks reported by the Associated Press, said the lower arrest and detention numbers suggest change but cautioned it is too early to determine whether the shift is permanent. The Trump administration has publicly maintained that enforcement has not slowed, though analysts note that the tactics associated with Operation Metro Surge — the Minneapolis crackdown — appear to have been scaled back. Further data releases from the Deportation Data Project are expected to clarify whether the February decline represents a lasting adjustment or a temporary pause.