What did ICE deployments value American cities? : NPR

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Jason Armond / Los Angeles Occasions; Sean Bascom/Andolu; Octavio Jones/AFP by way of Getty Pictures; Collage by NPR Immigration and Customs Enforcement deployments to American cities are a central a part of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. But, in accordance with information analyzed by NPR — and interviews with regulation enforcement and metropolis officers — these actions stretched native police departments skinny, disrupted companies and left metropolis budgets struggling to soak up the fallout.

In Los Angeles and Minneapolis, the immigration enforcement surge resulted in ballooning extra time prices for native police. In Portland, Ore., decreased police manpower contributed to longer name response occasions.

Amid what the Trump administration has dubbed Operation Metro Surge, companies in cities like Bloomington and St. Paul, Minnesota misplaced income, skilled unrest, and have been equally left with a excessive invoice.

What unifies these ICE actions is that they have been all sustained over a number of weeks, in communities the place native regulation enforcement aren't approved to help with federal immigration efforts. Nonetheless, these deployments resulted in knock-on results that required the usage of native police to result in or protect order.

Police extra time surged as departments have been compelled to deploy officers for demonstrations, additional patrols, safety round federal amenities and emergency responses tied to the raids — typically at extra time pay charges.

In cities already battling staffing shortages, like Los Angeles and Minneapolis, these additional hours rapidly added up.

In Los Angeles, the place the monetary state of affairs is already dire, LAPD extra time spending climbed to $41 million in June 2025, when immigration raids sparked weeks of protests — properly above the division's typical month-to-month vary of $18 to $30 million, in accordance with town controller's workplace.

In Minneapolis, the police division reported greater than $6 million in extra time and standby pay in lower than a month, from Jan. 7 to Feb. 8, in accordance with town's police chief. That is greater than double town's complete annual police extra time funds of $2.3 million.

The complete monetary image continues to be not totally identified. Metropolis leaders are reviewing their budgets and count on prices to proceed to go up.

In response to NPR's questions on how the immigration crackdown has affected metropolis budgets, Abigail Jackson, a White Home spokeswoman, supplied a press release and included supply hyperlinks: "Unlawful aliens value American taxpayers over $150 billion in 2023 alone and expenditures for advantages supplied to the unlawful aliens who entered through the Biden surge will add $177 billion in necessary federal spending via 2034."

NPR has not independently verified these figures.

The Division of Homeland Safety didn't reply to NPR's questions for this story.

What occurred in Los Angeles? In early June 2025, ICE brokers started a sequence of aggressive immigration sweeps in Southern California.

"The primary three weeks of it, we have been actually balancing and teetering on martial regulation," LA councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez informed NPR. She stated town did not count on "such a heavy-handed and militarized and war-like response from the federal authorities to folks expressing their First Modification rights."

The LAPD spent round $17 million between June 8-16 responding to the anti-ICE protests that broke out that month. Near $12 million of that went to extra time prices, in accordance with a report from the LA Metropolis Administrative Workplace.

These figures don't embrace the prices of potential lawsuits or legal responsibility claims from residents and protesters injured through the demonstrations, and from aggressive policing by the LAPD that town expects to face, Hernandez stated.

To satisfy these monetary wants, town has needed to faucet into their reserve funds.

In response to questions from NPR, the LAPD didn't present any details about what kinds of actions officers have been engaged in once they incurred the extra time hours.

The town controller's workplace pointed NPR to the general public database of metropolis funding for extra info. However the information lacked specifics. Additional time prices for the LAPD for all the month of June 2025 ballooned to greater than $40 million. Additional time hovered between $22 to somewhat over $33 million from January 2025 via Might 2025.

The LAPD, the nation's third-largest police division, has struggled with brief staffing – contributing to the necessity to spend thousands and thousands on extra time in prior years, in accordance with the LAist.

LA Mayor Karen Bass didn't reply questions in regards to the monetary repercussions on town from the police response to the raids or on native companies.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7472x4982+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F82%2Fdd%2F805f86324bae8aed15501145a527%2Fap26066040195180.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7472x4982+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F82%2Fdd%2F805f86324bae8aed15501145a527%2Fap26066040195180.jpg" class="img" alt="U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents standoff against demonstrators as tear gas fills the air outside the federal ICE building during a protest in Portland, Ore., on June 14, 2025." loading="lazy"/> U.S. Customs and Border Safety brokers stand off towards demonstrators as tear fuel fills the air exterior the federal ICE constructing throughout a protest in Portland, Ore., on June 14, 2025. Jenny Kane/AP/AP cover caption

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Jenny Kane/AP/AP Portland's story: 'We're understaffed, under-resourced' Not lengthy after the unrest in Los Angeles, Portland Police Bureau Chief Robert Day says protesters and federal brokers started to converge on town's ICE facility in June.

"The majority of our extra time funding, and calls for on our time have been on the [federal ICE] facility," Day informed NPR.

Like LA, Portland's police division has handled staffing shortages for years.

From June till November 2025, Portland law enforcement officials have been staffed on the ICE facility practically on a regular basis, in accordance with town information supplied to NPR. There have been different occasions when officers have been actively monitoring however weren't on the facility.

In 2025, the Portland Police Bureau recorded 38,213 extra time hours categorized as "occasion response," in accordance with information supplied to NPR. For context, Portland police racked up 19,166 extra time hours for occasion response for all of 2024.

The extra time hours accrued in 2025 are practically half of what was accrued when police responded to main protests in 2020 and 2021 following the loss of life of George Floyd. These protests lasted months, the at-times chaotic demonstrations broken property and generally turned violent.

Police labored between 70,000 to greater than 80,000 hours of extra time to answer these occasions, in accordance with the info.

Native regulation enforcement's function on the ICE facility this summer season and fall was to keep up order. Protests received out of hand at occasions. "The ability was badly broken. It was closely attacked. Home windows damaged and graffiti," Day stated.

Throughout now-outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's October go to, Portland police have been tasked with offering much more safety to the middle – 456 officers, leading to shut to three,000 hours of extra time hours labored, in accordance with information supplied to NPR, and equating to "a number of hundred thousand bucks," in accordance with Day.

"Cops have been working lengthy days, lengthy weeks, over an prolonged time period," Day stated. "We're understaffed, under-resourced, and the remainder of town suffers due to that."

In the summertime and fall, that meant requires service taking for much longer, in accordance with Day. "Our common response time to precedence calls has grown to 17,18 minutes … and it ought to be extra like six to eight," he confirmed.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4432x2952+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F14%2F6b%2F87efdea54089af4bed2ac913f233%2Fap26029147522051.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4432x2952+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F14%2F6b%2F87efdea54089af4bed2ac913f233%2Fap26029147522051.jpg" class="img" alt="Police stand during a noise demonstration outside the Graduate by Hilton Minneapolis hotel on Jan. 28, 2026, in Minneapolis." loading="lazy"/> Police stand throughout a noise demonstration exterior the Graduate by Hilton Minneapolis resort on Jan. 28, 2026. Adam Grey/AP/FR172090 AP cover caption

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Adam Grey/AP/FR172090 AP Minneapolis police report PTSD signs On the peak of the immigration enforcement surge, there have been round 3,000 ICE and Customs and Border Safety brokers within the Minneapolis space. There are solely round 600 cops within the Minneapolis Police Division and statewide there are round 10,000 regulation enforcement officers.

"I can't think about every other metropolis going via the depth and the sheer quantity of chaos that that occurred right here. It was horrible," Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara informed NPR. "Minneapolis is a small metropolis. This isn't Chicago. It isn't LA, I do not assume it might be doable for them to overwhelm these cities in the best way that this metropolis was actually overwhelmed by that surge."

There's nonetheless a presence of ICE brokers within the metropolis, however far fewer than at its peak.

Early on, O'Hara made large adjustments to answer the deployments of federal brokers to Minneapolis. He modified operational procedures and created a full-time place for a lieutenant to be out there to observe ICE-related calls. He additionally staffed the division's operation heart with civilian neighborhood service officers to assist monitor social media and town's digicam feed to see motion within the streets in actual time, he defined.

By early January, O'Hara was instructing all sworn officers to be in uniform always whereas on responsibility.

"I used to be afraid there was going to be a necessity for an emergency state of affairs that may require a large deployment. And the subsequent day is when Renee Good was killed," he informed NPR. "From that second, till a few day or two after the third taking pictures that we had when Mr. Pretti died, I might say it simply continued to escalate."

When the police have been responding to and defending lively crime scenes within the aftermath of the shootings, ICE brokers continued with immigration stops and arrests. In response, demonstrations of hundreds in opposition to the raids continued.

Minneapolis police had to answer all of it.

O'Hara in contrast that chaos to the unrest after the 2020 killing of Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, which led to main protests and riots.

After Good's loss of life, all days off for officers have been canceled. Police have been tasked with dealing with marches, protests at motels and monitoring vigil websites. Specialised models have been activated and police typically tried to keep up order.

In consequence, extra time prices skyrocketed. O'Hara stated the division spent about $6.4 million on extra time prices from Jan. 7 via Feb. 8.

"It was, actually, an awesome state of affairs that for many of it, it felt like there was simply no finish in sight," he stated.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F04%2Fc8%2Fbc4737c14a38bd21ce1777ba4e5b%2Fap26031862577434.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F04%2Fc8%2Fbc4737c14a38bd21ce1777ba4e5b%2Fap26031862577434.jpg" class="img" alt="Activists gather in protest to light candles on frozen Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, spelling, "Ice Out" on Jan. 31, 2026." loading="lazy"/> Activists collect in protest to mild candles on frozen Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, spelling, "Ice Out" on Jan. 31, 2026. Alex Brandon/AP/AP cover caption

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Alex Brandon/AP/AP By the third week of January, O'Hara stated he obtained reviews that officers have been experiencing signs of PTSD, "which scared me," he stated.

The 2020 Floyd protests had a huge effect on the division – a lot so it led to a mass exodus of officers reporting signs of PTSD. "As emotionally charged as issues have been on the road, it was tough for them. It took them again to the sentiments and issues that they'd skilled in 2020. That was actually robust for lots of the cops."

O'Hara continued, speaking about staffing issues: "It was my worry that we have been going to wind up having this cycle once more and simply wind up shedding extra folks. In contrast to in 2020…there's completely no buffer. We're at naked bones right here."

With police pulled to answer hold public order, officers have been being pulled off of lively investigations. Crimes weren't being solved or investigated as rapidly as they might have, he added.

The monetary value of the deployment to town as a complete can be pronounced. Minneapolis issued a report on Feb. 13 that estimated the full financial fallout in a single month throughout these operations was greater than $203 million.

The report lists a number of penalties from the raids together with residents detained, job losses and enterprise closures.

"The affect was each extraordinary and it was devastating for these months, whereas this invasion was going down," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey informed NPR. "Folks have been afraid to exit. Afraid to go to the grocery retailer. Terrified that their households have been going to get ripped aside."

He stated, "ICE is clearly responsible."

NPR requested the White Home to answer this criticism.

Jackson, the White Home spokeswoman, stated in her assertion: "When will NPR ask sanctuary cities if they are going to reimburse the American folks for bills incurred by unlawful aliens? Or if they are going to apologize to the victims of violent legal unlawful aliens?"

Chief O'Hara stated the issue was not that immigration enforcement was occurring. The issue is the "unsafe and questionable strategies" of the federal brokers and "questionable management."

Noem, the pinnacle of DHS on the time of this surge, was lately fired partially due to the political fallout from these operations.

Penalties of ICE deployment spreads past metropolis borders St. Paul, the capital of Minnesota and shut neighbor to Minneapolis, loaned some officers to Minneapolis to cope with the crush of Operation Metro Surge, in accordance with Rebecca Noecker, the president of St. Paul's Metropolis Council.

"This was an issue that we didn't make and it is an issue we do not have the assets to resolve," stated Noecker.

Following the taking pictures of Macklin Good in Minneapolis, St. Paul police spent $46,000 in extra time in simply sooner or later to help the neighboring police division, Noecker stated.

From Jan. 7 to Feb. 5 St. Paul police shared with NPR that 4,679.75 worker extra time hours have been labored in response to Operation Metro Surge. That value $372,341.38. They did not inform NPR what number of officers labored the extra hours or present further information past early 2026.

"The road between bodily intervening with ICE to maintain protesters secure and bodily intervening with ICE in a means that stops a lawful enforcement motion is a extremely positive one," Noecker stated. "What I heard largely from our police was: 'We're actually in an unattainable state of affairs.'"

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fda%2F80%2F3bcc10174349843f64b121d0f638%2Fap26019757587270.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fda%2F80%2F3bcc10174349843f64b121d0f638%2Fap26019757587270.jpg" class="img" alt="Community members and neighbors of people detained by ICE gather in protest at a Target store, on Jan. 19, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn." loading="lazy"/> Neighborhood members and neighbors of individuals detained by ICE collect in protest at a Goal retailer on Jan. 19, 2026 in St. Paul, Minn. Yuki Iwamura/AP/AP cover caption

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Yuki Iwamura/AP/AP Noecker says the numbers her metropolis is seeing now should not the tip of the story. She expects these payments to go up.

In close by Bloomington, Minnesota, 10 minutes south of Minneapolis, town's police Chief Booker Hodges informed NPR protests towards ICE spilled into his neighborhood. He stated, for instance, demonstrations broke out in entrance of motels the place it was rumored that ICE brokers have been staying.

In January, when the White Home deployed federal regulation enforcement to Minneapolis "all hell broke free," Hodges stated.

Border Patrol and different federal brokers have been seen following residents to close by faculties, which triggered emergency calls to the division. There have been additionally racial profiling incidents concentrating on town's massive Latino and Somali inhabitants, Hodges informed NPR.

He additionally stated officers of colour have been subjected to racist abuse by anti-ICE protesters.

Hodges stated his officers have been exhausted, however that his division is totally staffed so did not require as a lot extra time as different businesses.

His division spent greater than $32,000 in extra time prices in response to immigration protests and actions, he informed NPR. That coated 60 law enforcement officials and totaled 415.5 hours.

The work for these officers concerned additional patrols in retail and on the metropolis's greater than 4 dozen motels. It additionally required the deployment of the division's Public Order Group (a gaggle educated to answer public dysfunction). It was deployed as soon as all of final 12 months. This 12 months, as of mid February, the group was deployed 4 occasions.

He want to see reimbursement from the federal authorities, however stated "it is pointless to even ask them for it."

He says time can be higher spent pushing for complete immigration reform: "As a result of despite the fact that the surge has ended right here, the legal guidelines that allowed it to happen are nonetheless in place."