Covering the ICE surge in Minneapolis

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Consider This from NPR

Episode: Covering the ICE Surge in Minneapolis
Date: February 7, 2026
Host: Emily Kwong
Guest: Meg Anderson (NPR National Correspondent, Minneapolis)

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Overview

This episode dives into the personal experience of Meg Anderson, an NPR national correspondent living and reporting in Minneapolis during a sweeping federal immigration enforcement campaign. The conversation explores the blurring of personal and professional boundaries when a journalist’s own community becomes the news, highlighting the emotional intensity, evolving community responses, and broader implications of national media attention.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal and Professional Overlap

• Emotional Challenge of Reporting at Home

  • Meg Anderson describes the difficulty of covering traumatic events unfolding where she lives, noting the unique stress local reporters face when their own community is affected.
  • [04:02] “I think it is a level of emotional drain that is really intense. But then also, like, what I'm experiencing here is the experience that, like, local reporters have, right. Like, this is like the definition of being a local reporter is that you're reporting on your own community and when really bad things happen, like, it's your own community.”

• Everyday Life Interrupted

  • Meg recounts how normal routines—like picking up food—feel disrupted by security measures due to the ICE presence.
  • [01:03] “I went to a place to get burritos ... it's like there are people standing guard outside. You can't enter. It's locked. They kind of radio in on a walkie talkie who you are and what you ordered. They bring it out to you, and then you go back to your car.”

• Processing Violence in Familiar Places

  • The violence and tension “transform familiar places into sites of trauma.”
  • [00:25] “...seeing these things, these horrible things happen [in] places I know as vibrant, immigrant-owned streets ... there's a really weird element there of being really familiar with a place and then seeing these things, these horrible things happen.”

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2. The Reporter’s Role and Shifting Relationships

• From National to Local Perspective

  • Emily Kwong raises the idea of “parachute journalism” and how Meg is navigating the intersection of being a national and local reporter.
  • [05:12] “You cover criminal justice issues in places where you don't live all the time... But you are having this experience of... being a local reporter in a way, for a national outlet.”

• Deepened Empathy and Shared Experience

  • Meg notes a more personal connection and “commiseration” with those she interviews because she is living through the story herself.
  • [05:42] “I think I'm approaching all of that with the same philosophies that I always have ... but I do think there's, like, a level of commiseration that's happening right where I'm like, yeah, I live here, too. I understand.”

• Changing Community Trust

  • Initial common ground sometimes increases sources’ openness, but growing mistrust and fear among residents also leads to increased reticence and demands for anonymity.
  • [06:36] “With some people... it has created a little bit more of a sense of ease ... But then I think there are other people ... people become more guarded with the media ... people kind of becoming a little more insulated and a little like, actually, I don't want to talk to you, or can I talk to you anonymously.”

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3. On-the-Ground Realities of the ICE Surge

• Escalation and Aftermath

  • The federal agent surge began with 2,000 agents, rose to 3,000 after a shooting, and was only slightly reduced following recent agreements. The community has not felt any real decrease in enforcement presence.
  • [07:58] “The surge that started at the beginning of December was about 2,000 federal agents ... after Renee Macklin Good was shot, they escalated that number to 3,000. They added a thousand agents ... So really, like, I think important context here is that this drawdown that was announced this week is still ... more federal agents on the ground than there were before Goode's killing.”

• Community Tension Remains

  • Residents continue to report tense encounters and ongoing fear; the situation feels “far from resolved.”
  • [07:58] “What I'm hearing from people in the community is, nope, like, nothing is different yet. Wow, there are still federal agents kind of roaming the streets. There are still kind of these very tense clashes ...”

• Leadership Change

  • The Biden administration recently replaced the field leader, resulting in a reduction of agents, but Meg says the results aren’t apparent yet.
  • [07:33] “On Wednesday, Homan reduced the number of immigration officers in Minneapolis, removing 700 of them after state and local officials agreed to cooperate by turning over arrested immigrants. Meg, as we talk now, has this changed the situation on the ground?”
  • [07:58] “I think it is too early to say. What I'm hearing from people in the community is, nope, like, nothing is different yet.”

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4. Lessons from Reporting While Embedded in the Story

• Greater Awareness and Responsibility

  • This experience sharpens the reminder that, for locals, news events don’t end when journalists leave.
  • [09:43] “When you go to a place and you report, it is happening so deeply to the people that you are reporting on ... It doesn't go away when you go back home and write your stories... it's still happening to those people. It is at the very, very center of their lives.”

• Importance of Local Reporting

  • Meg emphasizes the critical and ongoing work of local journalists, even as national focus wanes.
  • [04:02] “There's been really amazing local reporting happening here. And I do think... there's also an element of... worrying the national spotlight is going to drift away at some point ... But people's lives here are gonna be changed forever. Really. Yeah. Forever for a really long time.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [00:25] Meg Anderson: “...there's a really weird element there of being really familiar with a place and then seeing these things, these horrible things happen.”
• [01:39] Meg Anderson: “I was okay... but it was just weird to have that happen and go home and... make dinner... what else are we gonna do?”
• [05:42] Meg Anderson: “I. I understand. Right? Yep. I live right over there. Or I know exactly the place that you're talking about. Or. Yeah, that happened to a friend of mine, too.”
• [09:43] Meg Anderson: “...it doesn't go away when you go back home and write your stories... it's still happening to those people. It's at the very, very center of their lives.”

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Key Timestamps

• 00:00–01:39: The blurred lines between living and reporting the story; recollections of violence in familiar neighborhoods.
• 04:02–05:42: Emotional toll and community connections of reporting in one's own city.
• 06:28–07:33: Evolving dynamics of trust and cooperation with sources amid heightened fear.
• 07:33–09:30: Recent changes in federal enforcement presence, community response, and evolving situation.
• 09:43–10:29: Lessons learned about empathy, responsibility, and the lived reality for affected communities.

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Tone & Language

The episode maintains a reflective, personal, and compassionate tone throughout. Meg speaks candidly about emotional fatigue, the complexity of community trust, and the importance of not losing sight of ongoing impacts after the headlines fade.

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This engaging conversation offers a rare, inside look at what it means to cover a crisis in your own backyard, with all its emotional weight and ethical complexities, reminding listeners of both the power and limitations of national attention.

Transcript

[A]

It's ALL Things CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Emily Kwong.

[B]

It's been a really intense experience to be living here and then also reporting here.

[A]

That is Meg Anderson, a correspondent for NPR's national desk, based in Minneapolis, where for two months the Trump administration's sweeping immigration campaign has resulted in violent, sometimes deadly confrontations between community members and federal immigration agents.

[B]

Renee Macklin Goode was killed in just a residential neighborhood. I knew exactly where it was as soon as I saw the videos. And same with Alex Preddy. Like, that where he was killed is just this, like, really vibrant street. It's Nicollet Avenue. People call it Eat Street. There's tons of really good restaurants. Most of them, or many of them are immigrant owned. And you watch the videos and you're like, there's a really weird element there of being really familiar with a place and then seeing these things, these horrible things happen.

[A]

For Meg, life looks normal in Minneapolis until it doesn't.

[B]

Last night I went to a friend's house. I picked up takeout for us. I went to a place to get burritos. We did a pickup order. And you go there and it's like there are people standing guard outside. You can't enter. It's locked. They kind of radio in on a walkie talkie who you are and what you ordered. They bring it out to you, and then you go back to your car. And then I kind of went on my way to my friend's house.

[A]

This blend of the normal with the not so normal has been difficult for her. And then there was the time she was tear gassed while covering a protest.

[B]

I was okay. I was, I was pretty far back. And it was, it was fine, but it was just weird to, like, have that happen and go home and, you know, have to shower and wash my clothes. And then like, we made dinner, you know, and it was kind of like, well, what else are we gonna do?

[A]

Consider this. When a national reporter is covering a story, they're also living through the job changes. Coming up, Meg Anderson on reporting on the surge of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, the city she calls home. From npr, I'm Emily Kwong.

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[A]

It's Consider this from NPR NPR correspondent Meg Anderson has called Minneapolis home for several years. And when thousands of immigration agents arrived in the city earlier this winter, she had to adapt to reporting on a major story that had all of a sudden made her familiar surroundings in many ways unfamiliar. When we sat down for this week's Reporter's Notebook, I wanted to talk to Meg about what it's like to cover this story unfolding in her own community.

[B]

I think it is a level of emotional drain that is really intense. But then also, like, what I'm experiencing here is the experience that, like, local reporters have, right. Like, this is like the definition of being a local reporter is that you're reporting on your own community and when really bad things happen, like, it's your own community. So I want to, like, acknowledge that. And there's been really amazing local reporting happening here. And I do think, like, there's also an element of, like, worrying or feeling like the national spotlight is going to drift away at some point. And I've been thinking a lot about that lately how, you know, you think about those really awful floods that happened in Texas last year or California wildfires, you know, any of these huge disasters that like, upend a person's life, often they go on after the national media goes away. I worry, and I can feel how that might happen here where it's like, oh, but like, people's lives here are gonna be changed forever. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Forever for a really long time.

[A]

That's a really interesting thing to hear you talk about and grapple with because. Right. We at npr, we are national reporters in what we do. You cover criminal justice issues in places where you don't live all the time. But because. And we sometimes call that parachute journalism. Sometimes we just call that journalism. But you are having this experience of. Right. Of being a local reporter in a way, for a national outlet. How has that changed your Approach to your job itself, this experience, I think.

[B]

The way that I approach talking with people, right, who are gonna tell me about something that directly happened to them, about them being approached by ICE or detained or how they're staying at home or whatever. Like, I think I'm approaching all of that with the same philosophies that I always have, you know, of just being really gentle with people and spending time with them. But I do think there's, like, a level of, like, commiseration that's happening right where I'm like, yeah, I live here, too. I. I understand. Right? Yep. I live right over there. Or I know exactly the place that you're talking about. Or. Yeah, that happened to a friend of mine, too. That has felt much more present in the way that I'm talking with people when I'm interviewing them.

[A]

How has that changed how protesters or community activists, People you interview, responded to you when you reveal that, hey, I.

[B]

Live here too, with some people, I think it has created a little bit more of a sense of ease to just be like, oh, yeah, okay, you live here. Like, oh, you get it. But then I think there are other people. Like, I have noticed, you know, because I was at the site where Renee Goode was shot, like, two hours after it happened. And I have watched over the last month, like, people become more guarded with the media. Oh, I think people are scared and freaked out. And, you know, as we see more reporting about, like, facial recognition technology or there are, you know, rumors that I believe still are. I don't know if they're founded or not, if there's reporting on this, but, like, I. Infiltrating signal chats. Right. Or that there's going to be more focus on signal chats and things. Like, you can feel people kind of becoming a little more insulated and a little like, actually, I don't want to talk to you, or can I talk to you? Anonymously, the administration has seemed to pivot.

[A]

A little. More than a week ago, they swapped out border patrol field leader Gregory Bevino. Four of the White House immigrations are Tom Homan. And on Wednesday, Homan reduced the number of immigration officers in Minneapolis, removing 700 of them after state and local officials agreed to cooperate by turning over arrested immigrants. Meg, as we talk now, has this changed the situation on the ground?

[B]

I think it is too early to say. What I'm hearing from people in the community is, nope, like, nothing is different yet. Wow, there are still federal agents kind of roaming the streets. There are still kind of these very tense clashes between Observers and these federal agents. Another thing I think is important context is so the surge that started at the beginning of December was about 2, 000 federal agents coming to Minnesota. Then after Renee Macklin Good was shot, they escalated that number to 3,000. They added a thousand agents. And then. So really, like, I think important context here is that this. This drawdown that was announced this week is still. It's. It's like a de. Escalation from an escalation. Right. That they. There's still more federal agents on the ground than there were before Goode's killing. And so it's a step back from.

[A]

What is a heightened.

[B]

It's a step back, but it's like not. There's still. There's as many as there were. There's more than there were than at the very beginning of the surge at the beginning of December. Tom Holman's rhetoric is more calm, for sure, than like Gregory Bevino, who was in charge before him. But it isn't. It feels way too early, I think, to say if it's gonna cause any sort of real change for the people living here.

[A]

Meg, this situation is not over. But even so, like, what lessons from this month of reporting will you take with you on stories that you report far from home?

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I like to think that I knew this already, but I am one of the parachuting in reporters sometimes. Right. And I just want. I do think I already knew this, but it's just like this continued reminder of like, what when you go to a place and you report, it is like happening so deeply to the people that you are reporting on. And it is so vivid and that it. And it doesn't go away when you go back home and write your stories and you're there for, you know, a week or a couple of days or whatever, like, just continuing to remember, like, it's still happening to those people. It is like at the very, very center of their lives. And I do think I knew that, but I think it's just that much more vivid now.

[A]

Well, we really appreciate your reporting and everything you're doing and thank you for it.

[B]

Yeah, well, you're welcome. And thank you for. Thanks for having me on and to talk about it.

[A]

This episode was produced by Leena Muhammad and Matt Ozuk. It was edited by Adam Raney. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun. Let's consider this. I'm Emily Kwong.

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