Every few days since Operation Metro Surge began, DHS has released lists of people it says have been arrested.

MPR News examined one of the lists shared by DHS officials on Monday, Jan. 12 and found that most of the people on the list had been immediately transferred to ICE custody at the end of time served in Minnesota prisons.

All of those transfers happened before ICE began its surge of operations in Minnesota on Dec. 1, 2025, with some even happening years before.

According to Department of Corrections records, five of those individuals were transferred from prison custody to ICE custody between August and late November. Three others were handed over to ICE custody by DOC during previous presidential administrations.

And one person was offered to be released to ICE custody more than a decade ago and ICE declined, according to the DOC.

MPR