St. Paul, MN: The Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) is again calling on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to stop the continued campaign of misinformation. Ongoing misleading statements and press releases from Homeland Security make unverified claims about the number of dangerous non-citizens in Minnesota. Despite Border Czar Tom Homan’s recent announcement of a 700-agent reduction in force, 2,000+ federal agents will remain in Minnesota. The confusing and unsupported data Homeland Security has released about the number of violent and dangerous non-citizens in Minnesota prompts serious questions about the need, cost, and public safety benefit of leaving 2,000 agents in the state. Because of the efforts of local and state law enforcement and county attorneys across Minnesota, the state has seen a marked reduction in violent crime over the past year.

The deployment of some 3,000 federal immigration and customs and border patrol agents to Minnesota has been unprecedented and was grounded in disingenuous data and information provided by federal officials, including assertions that the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) failed to honor ICE-issued detainers.  While federal officials have since officially acknowledged that the DOC has a long history of cooperation, the data provided to justify its continued elevated presence is confounding and incomplete.  

For instance, as of January 30, 2026, roughly 380 non-citizens are currently incarcerated in Minnesota state prisons, yet just 270 individuals have active ICE detainers. These figures reflect accurate, point-in-time data maintained by the DOC. Late last week, the DOC took the additional step of providing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials with a list of the non-citizens without detainers so that they can place detainers on these individuals (although ICE was previously notified of the presence of each of these individual upon admittance to the DOC’s custody). With the non-citizens in state prisons and what is believed to be approximately 100 people in Minnesota jails with active detainers, there are less than 500 incarcerated individuals with detainers in the entire state of Minnesota.  This number is substantially different than the “more than 1,360 active detainers for criminals in Minnesota jails” cited in DHS press releases. 

Publicly available information from the Department of Homeland Security cites:

• 486 individuals identified on DHS’ “Worst of the Worst (WOW) in Minnesota” website,
• 211 individuals listed in separate DHS press releases since January 12, 2026, and
• 51 individuals duplicated on the DHS WOW site and the DHS press releases. 

Also of note is the fact that 92 individuals listed in the WOW database are associated with federal Bureau of Prison facilities and the federal immigration office:

• 56 Sandstone, site of Federal Correctional Institution - Sandstone
• 14 Waseca, site of Federal Correctional Institution- Waseca
• 22 Fort Snelling/South Minneapolis, site of the Whipple Building

DOC’s Review of 327 individuals to date: 

• 110 individuals were transfers of custody from DOC directly to ICE, contradicting DHS claims that these individuals were apprehended at large in Minnesota communities. This number includes the 68 previously identified in an earlier DOC press release. 
  • Of these, 34 individuals were released to ICE from DOC between 1989 and 2016.
• 200 individuals are confirmed to have no felony commitment time to DOC. Trends for these individuals include:
  • Non-felonies: petty misdemeanors (e.g. driving without a license), misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, stayed felony commitments (probation only), out-of-state convictions, and federal sentences.
  • Limited or No Records: Some individuals had only arrest records, insufficient details to confirm identity, or no criminal history found.
  • Identification Challenges: Names and details were not sufficient to match records accurately.
• 3 individuals remain in DOC prisons.
• 6 individuals were held by DOC for another agency under contract but were not serving felony sentences.
• 8 individuals had Orders of Supervision to ICE (individuals for whom ICE declined to issue a detainer or withdrew a detainer but who were ordered on release to have regular check-ins with ICE).

“The inconsistency and lack of clarity in Homeland Security data raises important questions about the level of federal resources being applied to the “worst of the worst” targets in Minnesota,” said Paul Schnell, Commissioner of the Department of Corrections. “The state has a longstanding history of cooperation with ICE focused on ensuring that those who pose the greatest risk to public safety are properly identified and turned over to ICE for deportation,” Schnell added. 

Public safety is best achieved when efforts and resources are thoughtfully targeted based on risk. The data from Homeland Security is not sufficient to allow for public scrutiny of the resources and tactics being employed in Minnesota. The State has asked Homeland Security to:

• Greatly reduce immigration enforcement agents in Minnesota based on verifiable data and public safety risk.
• Resume the long-held history of cooperative and transparent federal-state investigation efforts; recognizing the state’s legitimate justice interests in the two recent homicide cases in Minneapolis.
• Carry out its immigration efforts utilizing constitutionally-sound professional law enforcement practices.
• Share target specific list data with state and local officials.
• Continue efforts to develop cooperative efforts to coordinate on notification and detainer-based custody transfers based on sound public safety principles and recognizing the very real liability risks to Minnesota taxpayers when due process requirements are not met.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections remains committed to ongoing review of case data and seeks clarity about the information Homeland Security is using to justify its efforts in Minnesota. It is important for Minnesotans to have the facts and to know how non-citizens with serious criminal involvements are being managed. For more information, visit DOC’s Combatting Misinformation webpage.