Photo credits: Alan Clarkson (those with snow) and Peter Lyons Hall (those without snow, taken before the January 25 snowfall)
By Peter Lyons Hall
Based on reports from Fox News, local affiliate FOX 9 (KMSP), NPR radio, NY Times, and other prominent news organizations reporting between mid-January and February 1, 2026, Minneapolis has been the focal point of intense national attention regarding immigration enforcement, violent protests, and political confrontations. The central theme has been the aggressive “Operation Metro Surge” crackdown by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the resulting, often violent, backlash. And local Warwick residents have appeared consistently on Saturday mornings on Main Street and Lewis Park to peacefully voice their opposition to the sustained approach initiated by the federal government last year to address what it believes is a much needed reform to address both legal and illegal migration into the United States.
When you look past the political slogans and focus on what has actually worked — in the U.S. and other countries — realistic reform isn’t about choosing between open borders or mass deportation. It’s about aligning law with economic reality while protecting communities. “In just two weeks, tens of thousands of members of our community have made their voices heard, loud and clear: the Hudson Valley strongly rejects the Trump Administration’s plans for a mass detention camp in our own backyard. It’s shameful, un-American, and the exact opposite of everything our community stands for,” said Congressman Pat Ryan at a recent assembly in Chester, NY. “The President promised to focus on deporting violent criminals, but instead we’re seeing innocent civilians harassed, detained, and even killed. Now they’re claiming they can enter Americans’ homes without warrants – a blatant violation of the Constitution. The power to keep ICE from moving in, terrorizing our neighbors, and making us all less safe is in our hands,” continued Ryan.
Murdering protesters in Minneapolis, detaining and separating children from their parents, and the continued reports of shooting protesters by masked ICE agents is not how migration reform should work. Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, said Orange County was preparing to file litigation immediately in an effort to thwart the federal government from acquiring a facility in Chester NY to be used by ICE in its continued practices. “We are filing legal action within the next hour,” he said. “I’m not going to get into the details because the more you get into it, the more you weaken your case.”
Here’s how it should work: First there can be legal worker pathways tied directly to labor demand, and instead of arbitrary visa caps. Visas would adjust based on familiar patterns of labor demand in the following categories: construction labor shortages; agricultural seasons; service industry needs; and regional demand (like Midwest vs Southwest). In California, for example, the Refugee Programs Bureau (RPB) oversees culturally-sensitive and linguistically-appropriate services that help clients attain the skills needed to achieve self-sufficiency and a successful integration. The RPB achieves its goals by partnering with counties, resettlement agencies, school districts, and community based organizations. Meanwhile, the New York State Department of Labor staff provides the same range of services to Migrant and Seasonal Farm Laborers as are provided to non-Migrant and Seasonal Farm Laborers job seekers. New York State is required to deliver all workforce development-related services, benefits, protections, career guidance/counseling, testing, job development, job training, and job referral services to Migrant and Seasonal Farm Laborers on an equal and non- discriminatory basis. This alone historically reduces illegal crossings dramatically. There are serious enforcement on employers — not just workers. Countries that do this see much lower undocumented populations.
Second, there should be legal status for long-term contributors by residents who have lived in the U.S. for years, who have no violent criminal record, and who are working and paying taxes. The net result of this pathway to citizenship would help to stabilize families, reduce underground labor, increase tax revenue, and improve community trust. This is similar to past U.S. amnesty programs (like 1986) — which significantly improved wages and compliance. The Immigration Reform and Control Act (Simpson-Mazzoli Act) was signed into law by President Reagan, and requires employers to request Form I-9 for any employees hired. Approximately three million individuals—mostly of Hispanic descent—gained legal status through IRCA, securing economic and social opportunities as legal residents of the United States and gaining protection from deportation, according to the Library of Congress estimates. In an effort to halt unlawful crossings and unauthorized workers, the IRCA also approved increased border security resources, including higher budgets for the Border Patrol and the Department of Labor.
Third, a faster, clearer asylum and immigration courts could help streamline the current backlog which takes years to resolve, leaving applicants in a legal limbo, discouraging employers from hiring anyone with the skills the employer needs. Reform would require more judges and staff, simplified standards, and faster decisions rendered in months, not years.
Fourth we need better cooperation and coordination between local-federal agencies instead of conflict. Instead of raids that “officially” target operations against traffickers and violent offenders, local-federal coordination would share information that wouldn’t punish families for seeking services. Between 1959 and 1976, it is estimated that over 6 million dolphin mortalities occurred in association with the (Eastern Tropical Pacific) ETP tuna purse seine fishery. The “Operation Metro Surge” like the earlier tuna purse seine fishing methods that resulted in non-discriminate mingling of not only tuna with huge deaths to the fish (dolphins and other species) they did not mean to detain in their pursuit, is not a very targeted process, as the deaths of Good and Pretti reveal. This could restore trust in the government’s attempts to justify its questionable methods.
Fifth, making a long-term investment in source countries (real, not symbolic) in Central and South America, through trade deals, anti-corruption efforts, and job creation, would reduce migration pressure — just as European investment reduced Eastern European migration after the EU expanded.
The current tactics of mass deportations and endless raids have become socially destabilizing. If we are to accomplish some semblance of reform, then continuing the current strategy is a dead end. Enacting serious reform would result in legal workers filling jobs openly, higher wages through competition, fewer labor brokers, more tax revenue, and safer neighborhoods. Local governments could even focus on schools and housing — not emergency fallout from raids. In the movie Wizard of Oz, Glenda instructed Dorothy to tap her feet then repeat “There’s no place like home,” until Dorothy awakes from her dream. Likewise the ICE tactics believe in a similar slogan, “there’s no place like home – Depot” as they improvise a variety of techniques in their desire to raid more and more retail venues like that chain store in their desire to capture the day laborers whom they perceive to be the nation’s top threat. We should all hope that someday soon we, too, like Dorothy, will all awake from this horrible dream that we are in.
* The opinions expressed in this editorial
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