Fact Check: Minnesota Jails Refuse to Hand Over Hundreds of Illegal Aliens to ICE Agents Every YearJohn Binder 27 Jan 2026
Jails across the state of Minnesota do, in fact, refuse to turn over hundreds of illegal aliens in their custody to Immigration and Customs Enforcement every year, government data confirms.
Following a recent phone call with President Donald Trump, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) claimed in a statement that state officials cooperate with ICE agents in terms of handing criminal illegal aliens over to the agency for arrest and deportation.
“The Governor reminded President Trump that the Minnesota Department of Corrections already honors federal detainers by notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement when a person committed to its custody isn’t a U.S. citizen,” Walz’s office said in a statement.
“There is not a single documented case of the department’s releasing someone from state prison without offering to ensure a smooth transfer of custody,” Walz’s office wrote.
The claim, though, is misleading as jails across Minnesota — particularly in Hennepin County where Minneapolis sits — annually refuse to honor hundreds of ICE detainers, government records obtained by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) reveal.
The data, published last year, shows that across Minnesota, jails and prisons refused to turn some 823 illegal aliens over to ICE agents, instead releasing them back into the community, from Fiscal Year 2023 to Feb. 6, 2025.
Minnesota, the data finds, is among the top 10 states releasing illegal aliens from jail rather than turning them over to ICE agents.
In Hennepin County, from Fiscal Year 2023 to Feb. 6, 2025, the local jail released 363 illegal aliens from its custody even as ICE agents asked for them to be turned over to their custody. Hennepin County ranks among the top 11 sanctuary jurisdictions in the United States, the data shows.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/01/27/fact-check-minnesota-jails-refuse-to-hand-over-hundreds-of-illegal-aliens-to-ice-agents-every-year/
