Operation Metro Surge cost Minneapolis $700 million, city leaders say
Operation Metro Surge cost Minneapolis nearly $700 million in lost wages and business closures, according to an updated assessment city leaders released Wednesday.
The report looked at figures from December 2025 through April 2026. Previously, the city had released data showing that the federal immigration enforcement action cost the city $203 million in January alone.
The Whittier and Central neighborhoods were the most impacted, the analysis says, as those areas reported the most Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity during the surge.
Colonial Market's Daniel Hernandez said he was selling just 15% of his stock during the surge at his south Minneapolis location. He had only just opened the Mexican grocery store in November 2024, and despite a strong start, revenue only declined as community members faced uncertainty about immigration policies. He said he's forced to shut down his Lake Street location after losing $3 million.
"I might be in the floor right now but I know I'm going to go up again," said Hernandez. "Because our community deserves a place that cares about them, and that place is us, Colonial Market."
Hernandez said he knows his store's closure is tied to Operation Metro Surge, "because the math doesn't lie."
"We were doing well until ICE surge came," he said.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey touted the city's small business resiliency fund, which last week sent license fee refunds to 1,200 businesses.
"Minneapolis is resilient, we're compassionate, we're tough and we have consistently shown grit," Frey said, while encouraging residents to patron restaurants and stores.
Further up Lake Street, there are signs of a slow recovery at the Plaza Mexico, with customers sitting at tables that were deserted during the winter.
Store owner Gladys Ramos says she only survived thanks to the kindness of strangers.
"We still not out of the woods," Ramos said. "I don't know why did this happen, it almost destroyed us."
According to new research from North Star Policy Action, the state's leisure and hospitality industry was the most deeply impacted sector across the state. The sector also represents 8.7% of the state's workforce and is on average one of the lowest-paid industries, with most employees working paycheck-to-paycheck.
A study from the University of San Diego cited in the report Minneapolis released Wednesday says restaurants in the city lost $82 million, retail locations lost $63 million and grocery stores lost $28 million in revenue.
Beyond businesses, part of the economic equation is the cost associated with keeping people in their homes and keeping them fed.
Shannon Smith Jones and the Greater Twin Cities United Way say they had an unprecedented number of calls during the surge.
"We had huge number spikes around food support, rental help, legal help," Jones said.
