The Trump administration has deployed nearly 2,000 federal agents to the state of Minnesota in an ongoing crackdown on undocumented immigration, according to a report by CNN on Tuesday.
The combination of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers will join federal agents already in the state conducting immigration raids.
More than 150 suspected migrants accused of being in the country illegally were arrested in Minneapolis on Monday, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Officials from that agency said said roughly a dozen of those arrested had been charged with violent crimes, including homicide and robbery.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz scrutinized the move, saying federal agents were overstepping their authority.
"The war that's being waged against Minnesota, you're seeing it," Walz said at a news conference. "We have a ridiculous surge of apparently 2,000 people not coordinating with us that are for a show of the cameras."
The immigration raids come amid a allegations of welfare fraud in Minneapolis that prompted the administration to freeze billions of dollars in Health and Human Services (HHS) funds to Minnesota and four other Democratic-led states: California, Colorado, Illinois and New York.
The Department of Homeland Security posted an edited video via US social media company X showing Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem following armed agents into a building in St. Paul and arresting a suspect, allegedly an illegal immigrant wanted for murder.
The deployment of federal agents comes as Walz, who is one of Trump's biggest political enemies, dropped his reelection bid for governor due to scrutiny over the alleged welfare fraud.
"This is a concerted effort to try to destroy the president's opponents, to destroy the rule of law, and it became apparent to me that he was going to do that with me being there," said Walz.
