MN Corrections Says Feds Are Misleading On ICE Prison Data

ST. PAUL, MN — The Minnesota Department of Corrections is pushing back against claims by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that state officials are refusing to honor ICE arrest detainers and have released large numbers of “criminal illegal aliens” from custody.

On Tuesday, DHS accused Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey of failing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement and claimed more than 1,360 “criminal illegal aliens” are currently in Minnesota’s custody.

“Governor Walz and Mayor Frey REFUSE to cooperate with ICE law enforcement and have released nearly 470 criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets of Minneapolis,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “Criminal illegal aliens should not be released back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans.”

The Minnesota Department of Corrections issued a detailed rebuttal, saying DHS’s claims are factually incorrect and based on a misunderstanding of how Minnesota’s correctional system works.

“Minnesota’s total state prison population is approximately 8,000 individuals, and only 207, less than 3 percent, are non-U.S. citizens,” DOC said. “DHS’s assertion that 1,360 non-U.S. citizens are in Minnesota’s state custody is inexplicable.”

DOC emphasized that it operates state prisons, not local jails, and said DHS repeatedly conflated county jail populations, ICE-only custody, and state prison custody in its public statements.

According to DOC, 84 individuals with ICE detainers were released from state prison custody in 2025. In every case, DOC said ICE was notified in advance, and staff coordinated with federal officials to facilitate custody transfer when requested.

“The Minnesota Department of Corrections has always coordinated with ICE agents when individuals in our custody have detainers and will continue to do so,” DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell said. “Public safety depends on facts, not fear. When federal agencies make claims that are demonstrably false, it undermines trust.”

Minnesota law requires DOC to notify ICE when a person committed to state custody is not a U.S. citizen. While state law does not require compliance with ICE detainers, DOC said it honors all detainers as a matter of policy. ICE alone determines whether a detainer is issued and is responsible for arranging pickup.

DOC also released a media fact supplement reviewing individuals DHS cited as examples of the “worst of the worst.” According to DOC, many of those individuals were never in state prison custody and were instead held briefly in county jails, under ICE authority, or in other states’ correctional systems.

In other cases, DOC said DHS cited decades-old convictions or detainers that ICE later lifted. In every instance where an ICE detainer existed and DOC had custody, the department said it coordinated release to ICE and confirmed pickup.

“DHS has not identified a single instance in which the Minnesota Department of Corrections released an individual from state prison custody in violation of an ICE detainer,” DOC said.

The department said DHS has not identified the data sources, jurisdictions, or timeframes used to generate its claims and has not provided documentation to support them.

DOC warned that continued misstatements risk misleading the public and undermining confidence in the justice system, urging that the public record be corrected.