Two masked men could be seen behind the tinted windows of the SUV. The vehicle, parked on a small residential street in Minneapolis-Saint Paul on Friday, January 16, belonged to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal immigration police known by its acronym ICE. Then the commotion began: despite the bitter cold and heavy, falling snow, neighbors came out of their homes, pointed the vehicle out to passersby, and shouted at the officers inside: “Get the hell out of here, you bunch of Nazis.” A woman parked her car across the street to block their exit for several minutes. “They’re targeting a family that lives in the neighborhood,” another neighbor said.

Word spread through the many messaging groups dedicated to monitoring the activities of ICE that have sprung up across Minnesota in recent days. More residents arrived, armed with whistles. Inside one of the vehicles, an agent took photos of those present. Another made an obscene gesture with his canister of tear gas. The standoff lasted two hours. The agents eventually left.

Such has been everyday life in Minneapolis and neighboring Saint Paul since December 2025, when the Twin Cities began living under Operation Metro Surge, the deployment of 2,000 federal immigration officers. Since the death of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother shot dead at the wheel of her car by ICE officer Jonathan Ross on January 7, something new has been taking shape in the frozen air of Minnesota. Residents have been organizing, protesting, tracking the officers and resisting with whistles. Reporters from media across the country are there, driving around the streets, on the lookout for ongoing operations.

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