End "Operation Metro Surge." End the "Operations" everywhere.
What's happening in Minneapolis is beyond unacceptable. It needs to end now and it needs to end everywhere.
The Recombobulation Area is a 19-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning opinion column and online publication founded by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. The Recombobulation Area is now part of Civic Media.
The murder of Alex Pretti by federal agents on the streets of Minneapolis is an American tragedy. It has rightfully prompted so many across the political spectrum to speak out against the horrific shooting, of ICE and Border Patrol’s larger immigration crackdowns under Trump, and about what they’ve been doing in Minneapolis as part of “Operation Metro Surge.” Coming just weeks after the murder of Renee Good, it feels as if the situation in Minneapolis is building toward a breaking point — for the Twin Cities and for the nation.
Even Trump himself has seemed to tacitly acknowledge this, effectively firing Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino, moving for some level of new leadership to oversee the operation in Minneapolis with Tom Homan and a pledged “draw down” of forces, and not doubling down (for once) on the absurd and clearly false comments from members of the administration who referred to the deceased Pretti as a “domestic terrorist.” A Republican candidate for Minnesota governor dropping out of the gubernatorial race and leaving the GOP saying he “cannot support the national Republicans’ stated retribution on the citizens of our state” seemed like a crystalizing moment — that this had gone way too far.
Not that anything about this “Operation” in Minneapolis seems to be actually changing, though. The three steps forward, one step back approach might move the Overton Window, but there are still armed federal agents patrolling the city and violating “more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence,” Minnesota Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz wrote in an order this week, and still have instances like this instance of ICE targeting regular citizens being reported on a near-daily basis. They are detaining children, including 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who is being held in Texas and has been “very depressed” and hasn’t been eating well. There have been endless horrors reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, MPR News, and so many other outlets. This is beyond the pale.
But this is clearly not the first, and what happened in Chicago over the summer with “Operation Midway Blitz” was a warning — one we did not heed to the degree we all should have. There was a midnight raid of an apartment building where agents rappelled from a helicopter — a raid that resulted in no charges of any Tren de Aragua gang members they were purportedly after. A woman was shot five times by Border Patrol. They detained a day care worker and went after Girls Scouts. This was a five-alarm fire and any “Operation”-style enforcement should have stopped right then and there. And as much coverage as we’ve seen of events transpiring in Minneapolis, as Gov. Tim Walz put it in a harrowing interview with The Atlantic, “it’s worse than you think.”
While there are no indications that any large-scale ICE or CBP action is imminent in Milwaukee or Wisconsin — despite what some wildly irresponsible rumors may have suggested — we also can’t pretend that such an “Operation” could never arrive here. Gov. Tony Evers has said he’s “absolutely” preparing for the potential of increased ICE presence in Wisconsin, Congressman Mark Pocan warned that ICE activity could soon spike in the state, and Mayor Cavalier Johnson said the city needs to be prepared for possible “eventuality” of ICE in Milwaukee, despite “no solid indication" ICE is about to surge into the city, Jeff Fleming, spokesman for Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, told the Journal Sentinel.
Let’s be clear: This should not happen. I write about policy often here at The Recombobulation Area, and I could not be more vehemently opposed to any policy decision than I am on these “Operations.” So much of the last decade of Trumpism has been building to this and it is beyond despicable. This is abhorrent. This is un-American. There should never be an “Operation” in Wisconsin like what we saw in Chicago and what we’re seeing in Minneapolis — not in Milwaukee, not in Madison, not anywhere in this state.
Not only should this not happen here, this should not be happening anywhere. No city should have to endure this. Any leader behind these efforts should step down — DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, anyone and everyone involved in leading these “Operation” campaigns. Every action should be investigated; every crime committed by ICE and CBP agents should be prosecuted. Pull this out by the root and salt the earth it grew from. This is a full-scale affront to everything good this country is supposed to stand for. It has to end here and it has to end now.
Even if you are in favor of tougher immigration enforcement, you cannot seriously think these kinds of city-enveloping operations are the best way to accomplish that goal. This is instilling fear and panic and chaos in cities, and by and large, these operations are not actually targeting violent criminals; there’s little evidence suggesting they are targeting the “worst of the worst,” as Trump often puts it. And beyond the violations of rights and the constitution that are paramount here, there are indications that the economic fallout of this is going to be massively problematic. This is as misguided as it is unsustainable, and the very fabric of this country will be torn apart if these Operations are to continue.
The Trump administration is still advancing a brutal, Constitution-trampling campaign of mass deportation by way of an unaccountable, reckless, and now-deadly paramilitary force. “Operation Metro Surge” has been beyond unacceptable, and every day it continues is a stain on our nation. Every American of sound conscience should stand up against it and anyone in a position of power to do so should demand it come to an immediate end.
As devastating and un-American as this whole charade has been and continues to be, it’s been encouraging to see so many across Wisconsin, in communities large and small, take to the streets and stand with our neighbors in Minnesota. The people Minneapolis standing up to ICE and the Trump administration in this moment are nothing short of heroic. The courage and bravery that’s been on display has been a true inspiration. These men and women are true patriots, and they have demonstrated to this nation what real resistance and community solidarity can look like.
My genuine hope is that there are better days ahead for the good people of the Twin Cities, and that this “draw down” is the first step toward a full removal of this occupation “Operation.”
The encounters that led to the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good should never happen again. These need to be investigated on an individual level to the fullest extent of the law. And as so many pore over these frame-by-frame analyses of these gut-wrenching and unconscionable incidents, we can’t lose sight of the bigger picture — that this should never be happening in the first place.
End the “Operation.” End them everywhere. Now and forever.
Dan Shafer is a journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. In 2024, he became the Political Editor of Civic Media. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 23 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.
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