Trump Administration Ends Its Immigration Surge in Minnesota

Jessica Mendoza (0:00)

Hey, this is Jessica Mendoza, host of The Journal Podcast, our show about money, business and power. If you're looking for more deeply reported stories like we share every day, consider becoming a subscriber to The Wall Street Journal. Visit subscribe.wsj.com/thejournal, all lowercase, to subscribe now.

Alex Ossola (0:23)

The Trump Administration is ending its immigration surge in Minnesota. Plus, signs of financial stress are spreading beyond low-income Americans.

Imani Moise (0:31)

The latest data from a trade group that represents credit counselors is showing that more middle-class, middle-income Americans are also falling behind on their bills.

Alex Ossola (0:41)

And freezing weather sends home sales diving in January. It's Thursday, February 12th. I'm Alex Ossola for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. The Trump Administration said today that it's ending the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. Here's Border Czar Tom Homan speaking this morning.

Tom Homan (1:06)

Operation Metro Surge is ending. And in the next week, we're going to deploy the officers here in detail back to the home stations or other areas that countries are needed.

Alex Ossola (1:17)

For more on the end of the operation and its impact, I'm joined by WSJ immigration reporter Michelle Hackman. Michelle, what were the administration's goals in Minnesota and did it achieve them?

Michelle Hackman (1:26)

Homan framed it that way today. He said, we've accomplished everything that we've wanted to here in Minnesota. But if you read between the lines, I think they are actually looking for a way to deescalate. They did make a lot of arrests. It remains to be seen how many of those people will actually be deported.

Alex Ossola (1:42)

There's been a lot of tension both in Minnesota and in Washington after federal agents shot and killed US citizens. There were protests and the fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Michelle, let me play you a clip of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz after Homan's announcement.

Michelle Hackman (1:58)

They left us with deep damage, generational trauma. They left us with economic ruin in some cases. They left us with many unanswered questions.

Alex Ossola (2:09)

Did the backlash to the administration's policy play a role in the end of the surge?

Michelle Hackman (2:13)

Absolutely. You saw the administration do an about face. They were proud of their work in Minnesota, I would say, pretty much up through the shooting of Alex Pretti in Minnesota a few weeks ago. And at that point, criticism of their operations boiled over. It wasn't just Democrats that was coming from Republicans saying, this looked too chaotic. So they reversed course. They put in Tom Homan. They sort of cut off the chain of command that had already been there in Minnesota.

Alex Ossola (2:43)

How have Democrats responded to the announcement that the operation is ending?

Michelle Hackman (2:49)

Democrats in Minnesota are saying, we stood up to ICE and we won. We drove them out of our state.

Alex Ossola (2:55)

The governor of Minnesota, Tim Wells, also noted that local businesses suffered, as the journal has also reported. What is the economic impact expected to be after immigration agents leave?

Michelle Hackman (3:06)

I think it's going to be extensive. You saw immigrants, even citizens of foreign descent, staying home, not working, because they were afraid of ICE. And when people don't go out, it means far fewer people are going to restaurants, going to bars, that will take time to recover.

Alex Ossola (3:23)

That was WSJ reporter Michelle Hackman. Thanks, Michelle.

Michelle Hackman (3:27)

Thank you.

Alex Ossola (3:28)

In Washington, Senate Democrats blocked a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. They said negotiations with Republicans to put new restrictions on immigration enforcement hadn't made enough progress. The failed vote now puts the department on the verge of a shutdown. A short-term funding measure expires after tomorrow. To understand where the Senate goes from here, I put in a quick call to Lindsay Wise, a journal reporter covering Congress, who was still in the Senate after the vote.

Lindsay Wise (3:54)

After this failed vote, the Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that he thought there was no sense in keeping senators here. They're also expected to be on recess or out of session all of next week. He was pretty downbeat about the potential for a deal. But he said that if there is a deal reached in the coming days, he's told people to stay flexible, and senators should come back quickly within a day or two. There's actually a lack of urgency over here in Congress right now, in part because this is only one department. All the rest of the federal government has been funded through September already. Also just the way the pay cycle works for most of these federal workers, they're likely to get at least partially paid through the end of this month into early March. So I think that things will start to heat up here a little bit more when people start to miss paychecks.