On Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem held a press conference at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling as demonstrators outside condemned immigration enforcement and voiced concern about possible National Guard involvement. Noem highlighted recent DHS and ICE operations and said any Guard decision rests with President Donald Trump.
Protesters gathered outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on Friday, holding a moment of silence for people killed, detained, or disappeared by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before chanting “Say his name!” The site, minutes from Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport, carries historical weight: Dred and Harriet Scott were enslaved at Fort Snelling before suing for freedom, and following the U.S.–Dakota War, the U.S. Army confined more than 1,600 Dakota people in a camp there through the winter of 1862–63. (thenation.com)
Brooke Bartholomew, co-chair of Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America, told the crowd there is “a clear through line” from past injustices to today’s policies—remarks that protesters framed as a stand against what they called fascism. (thenation.com)
Inside the building later that afternoon, Noem reiterated DHS’s pledge to back immigration enforcement and policing. Speaking beside a display of seized firearms and drugs, she praised arrests made by ICE’s St. Paul field office and urged the public to support law enforcement officers. According to reporting from The Nation, the event backdrop also included oversized images of people arrested whose nationalities—Mexican and Salvadoran—were listed without names. (minnesotareformer.com)
Noem spotlighted recent enforcement actions and hiring. USCIS says Operation Twin Shield, a surge of fraud-detection visits across the Twin Cities area from Sept. 19–28, identified suspected fraud in 275 cases, coordinated with ICE and the FBI. Noem also pointed to a wave of newly trained ICE officers funded through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, which DHS and Congress.gov describe as authorizing thousands of additional ICE personnel and expanded detention capacity. (uscis.gov)
By late afternoon, the protest had grown to several hundred people. Asked whether federal troops or Guard units would be sent to the Twin Cities, Noem said the decision was “up to the president.” Many attendees said they feared a broader federal operation, echoing concerns that followed DHS’s “Operation Midway Blitz” in the Chicago area, where journalists and protesters were subjected to tear gas and pepper projectiles, and an ICE agent fatally shot a man during an arrest attempt in Franklin Park, Illinois, on Sept. 12. (minnesotareformer.com)
Some of Noem’s criticism focused on local officials. She faulted Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who faces reelection on November 4, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz for what she described as lack of cooperation with federal enforcement. State data show Minnesota’s violent crime peaked in 2020–21 before declining, a trend mirrored in early 2025 Minneapolis figures. Earlier this year, Walz drew rebukes from DHS leaders after referring to ICE as a “modern-day Gestapo” in a commencement speech. (en.wikipedia.org)
The legal and policy backdrop is shifting. On Sept. 29, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Minnesota, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Hennepin County over “sanctuary” policies that DOJ says obstruct federal immigration enforcement; Minnesota officials have pledged to fight the case. Minneapolis and St. Paul maintain separation ordinances that bar city employees—including police—from enforcing federal civil immigration law. (justice.gov)
Debate over potential troop deployments has intensified after visible federal actions elsewhere. Trump has deployed National Guard forces in Washington, D.C., and moved to send troops to Memphis; courts have, at times, limited or blocked attempted deployments in Chicago and Portland. Protest-related clashes around Chicago’s Broadview ICE facility prompted a federal judge to temporarily bar DHS from using riot-control weapons against journalists, and civil-rights groups have documented frequent use of chemical agents and projectiles at those demonstrations. (reuters.com)
In the Twin Cities, local politics are entwined with immigration enforcement. Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley said residents “still recall the trauma of the 2020 National Guard deployment,” when racial-justice protests were met with tear gas, rubber bullets and militarized force; Walz did activate the Guard during the 2020 unrest following George Floyd’s murder. State Sen. Omar Fateh—now running for mayor—warned that if Trump sends troops to Minneapolis, “they’re going to have to go through us first,” and is backing proposals to strengthen the city’s separation ordinance, including moves to bar masked federal agents—ideas reported by the Star Tribune and supported by other mayoral challengers. (thenation.com)
The Whipple Building is home to the Fort Snelling Immigration Court, where federal deportation hearings take place. As Noem ended her remarks, protesters outside chanted: “You don’t scare us. We’ll be back.” (justice.gov)