Operation Metro Surge cost Minnesota 32,000 jobs, report says

A new study estimated that Operation Metro Surge cost Minnesota about 32,000 jobs it would otherwise have had. A report from the Minnesota Budget Project and the Immigration Research Initiative examined nearly 4,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in Minnesota between December 2025 and February 2026. The report found that more than 2,000 of those arrests led to deportations. But researchers said the economic effects are beyond those detained or removed from the country. RELATED: Minneapolis claims ICE raids cost city $700M in wages, business losses According to the study, employment among immigrants who were not arrested declined by about 7,000 jobs. Meanwhile, employment among US-born workers fell by about 25,000 jobs. It said businesses lost workers and some immigrants reduced their participation in the workforce because they feared getting arrested or detained. The report said it was based on work by economists Chloe East and Elizabeth Cox, and then app