6 months later: DHS’s ‘worst of the worst’ from Rochester

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – In early January, Minnesota found itself at the center of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement effort.

The crackdown—known as Operation Metro Surge—saw more than 3,000 federal officers descend on the North Star State.

Through it all, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it was only targeting the so-called “worst of the worst” undocumented immigrants with criminal charges.

“Our ICE law enforcement work around the clock to deliver on President Trump’s promise to make America safe again,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis has said in recent DHS news releases. “Under President Trump and Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin, ICE will continue to target the worst of the worst and protect American communities.”

DHS has a public online database of its self-described “worst of the worst” arrests.

The Minnesota numbers

KTTC has reported on the Minnesota-specific arrests since Metro Surge started on Dec. 1, 2025.

On Feb. 3, DHS featured 486 “worst of the worst” captured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and agents in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

A couple weeks later, on Feb. 19, the department revised its reporting due to what it called a “glitch” in its computer system. The updated figure for that date was 487.

A DHS spokesperson did not answer KTTC’s questions about what type of glitch could cause the people on the website to be described incorrectly.

Minnesota’s statewide tally increased to 505 by March 9, but one week later dropped to 493.

In an email to DHS’s public affairs office, KTTC asked what caused the mid-March arrest adjustment. A spokesperson said the “minor glitch” from the previous month had been resolved.

As of July 7, 547 Minnesota-made arrests are included on Homeland Security’s “worst of the worst” site.

Minnesota officials have accused the federal government of padding their numbers by taking credit for arrests made by local law enforcement, who were then transferred to immigration authorities through routine process.

The Rochester numbers

On the homefront, Rochester has 68 arrests presently labeled the “worst of the worst” according to DHS’s searchable information.

On Feb. 3, the federal information put that total at 64. It dropped to 60, on Feb. 19, after the federal government revised its reporting due to the computer glitch it identified.

The figure stayed at 60 through at least March 16.

There are no apprehension dates listed with any of DHS’s “worst of the worst” immigration-related arrests.

Of the current 68 Rochester individuals named on the site, 40 of them had drug-related charges listed as their first—and sometimes only—crime. That was followed by assault-related offenses at nine and illegal re-entry with six.

There were no arrests out of the Med City tied to homicide or rape charges, according to the present-day information.

One charge noted the sexual exploitation of a minor.

Along with the detainees’ name and photo, the DHS entries include crime information and the city where their arrest happened, along with their country of origin.

39 of the 68 current Rochester arrests name Mexico as a home country. That’s followed by Honduras at 11 and Columbia at 4. None are from Somalia, based on the federal data.

Rochester’s July 7 “worst of the worst” arrest total is 13 higher than that of the state’s largest city of Minneapolis.

KTTC’s March review of the DHS database found roughly 45% of the total Minnesota arrests the department has deemed to involved the worst criminal undocumented immigrants took place in cities with state and federal prisons.

In mid-March KTTC asked DHS about the high percentage of “worst of the worst” arrests made in Minnesota cities with prisons.

“We are glad KTTC will drive traffic to WOW.DHS.gov ,” a spokesperson said. “We never claimed everyone on the website or every arrest in Operation Metro Surge was made at large in the community.”

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