On Christmas Day 2025, amid ongoing federal immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis known as “Operation Metro Surge,” reports circulated on social media claiming that ICE agents were actively raiding Somali-owned restaurants in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, often called “Little Somalia.” These claims portrayed the actions as unrelenting, with ICE “taking zero days off,” even on a major holiday. However, mainstream news sources from December 2025 indicate that while intensified ICE activities— including checks at East African restaurants and malls—occurred throughout the month, no specific confirmed raids were reported precisely on December 25, as operations appeared to focus on earlier weeks in response to administrative priorities targeting certain undocumented immigrants.

Tensions escalated in late December when Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, during a public safety discussion with Governor Tim Walz and community leaders, expressed grave concern about the “chaos” caused by federal agents, stating he was “increasingly concerned that somebody is going to get seriously injured or killed” if operations continued on their current trajectory. Right-leaning outlets interpreted this as a veiled threat against ICE agents, while Frey and supporters framed it as a warning about escalating confrontations potentially harming agents, protesters, or bystanders alike. Democrats and local officials, including Frey, criticized the federal surge as disruptive and fear-inducing, particularly in immigrant communities.

Protests against ICE presence have been frequent, including demonstrations at locations like Target parking lots used as alleged staging areas earlier in the month, where activists confronted agents and accused them of intimidation. Some viral posts described protesters—variously characterized as left-leaning or disruptive—using whistles and labels like “Nazis” to block vehicles. Calls to invoke the Insurrection Act have emerged in conservative circles, arguing for federal intervention to restore order amid perceived resistance to lawful enforcement, though no such action has been taken as community fears and political divisions persist.