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Months After Operation Metro Surge, an Effort to Account for the Human Toll

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Truth Council held a hearing at Century High School in Rochester where 16 testimonies documented Operation Metro Surge, a 10-week immigration enforcement campaign that ended six months earlier following the deaths of two protesters, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
During a 10-week period, Minnesota was the focus of what was described as the most aggressive immigration enforcement action in U.S. history when thousands of Department of Homeland Security and ICE agents descended on the state; Gov. Tim Walz responded by signing a March executive order creating the Truth Council to document human rights violations and produce policy reform recommendations.
Nearly two hours of testimony revealed how mass deportation translated into fear and terror at the individual human level, with many of the 16 stories read anonymously by friends, family members or religious leaders to several hundred people in the school auditorium.
Pam Whitfield, a member of Indivisible 507, said the events were "almost unbelievable," yet praised neighbors who "dropped everything to help total strangers" and organized rapid response groups, while The Rev. Karen Heistand noted the surge deeply impacted citizens, non-citizens and businesses across Minnesota.
Months after the campaign ended, survivors described persistent psychological trauma; an anonymous victim reported that "someone knocking unexpectedly at the door makes my heart race" and home no longer feels safe, while community networks continue providing prayer protection patrols at area mosques led by The Rev. Ana Wilson and monitoring school buses to protect residents.

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