Trump Administration Ends Its Immigration Surge in Minnesota

Summary

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WSJ What’s News (PM Edition)

Episode: Trump Administration Ends Its Immigration Surge in Minnesota
Date: February 12, 2026
Host: Alex Osola

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Episode Overview

This episode of the WSJ’s "What’s News" focuses on the Trump administration’s decision to end its immigration crackdown in Minnesota—a move following political backlash and local unrest. The show explores the ramifications of the policy reversal, local and national reactions, and the broader environment of economic and political stress in the US. Additional segments address rising financial pressure on middle-income Americans, turmoil in Congress over Homeland Security funding, major moves in US financial markets, and two WSJ exclusives: US efforts to aid Iranian protesters and a US naval incident in the Caribbean.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. End of the Minnesota Immigration Surge

News Summary

• The Trump administration is ceasing its heightened immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, deploying border officers back to their home locations or to other needed regions. (01:15)

Key Speaker: Tom Homan (US Border Czar)

• “Operation Metro Surge is ending and in the next week we're going to deploy the officers here on detail back to the home stations or other areas of the country are needed.” (01:15)

Background and Goals

• Michelle Hackman (WSJ Immigration Reporter) contextualizes the administration’s goals, indicating a public narrative of "mission accomplished," but interprets the withdrawal as a tactical de-escalation after a tumultuous period.
• "They did make a lot of arrests. It remains to be seen how many of those people will actually be deported." (01:35)

Local Impact and Trauma

• Following the shooting of Alex Preddy (a US citizen) by federal agents, public anger swelled across party lines.
• Governor Tim Walz highlighted the lingering harm:

  "They left us with deep damage, generational trauma. They left us with economic ruin in some cases. They left us with many unanswered questions." (02:06, via audio clip)

Political Response

• According to Michelle Hackman, bipartisan criticism and unrest, especially after the aforementioned shooting, forced the administration's reversal:

  “It wasn't just Democrats, it was coming from Republicans saying this looked too chaotic. So they reversed course. They put in Tom Homan. They sort of cut off the chain of command that had already been there.” (02:22)

Minnesota Democrats’ Reaction

• “Democrats in Minnesota are saying, we stood up to ICE and we won. We drove them out of our state.” (02:58)

Economic Fallout

• Local economies suffered as immigrants and even citizens with foreign backgrounds stayed home out of fear, resulting in less commerce and a slower recovery.

  "You saw immigrants, even citizens of foreign descent staying home, not working because they were afraid of ICE... That will take time to recover." (03:14)

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2. Capitol Hill Showdown over Homeland Security Funding

Senate Developments

• Senate Democrats blocked a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, citing stalled negotiations over immigration enforcement restrictions. A government shutdown of the department looms as the existing short-term measure expires soon (03:37–04:02).

Congressional Mood

• Lindsay Wise (WSJ Congressional Reporter) describes a relatively low sense of urgency within Congress, as only Homeland Security is affected and most federal workers will still be paid for now:

  "I think that things will start to heat up here a little bit more when people start to miss paychecks." (04:55)

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3. Justice Department Shakeup

Gail Slater Departure

• DOJ’s chief antitrust official, Gail Slater, steps down after internal clashes with leadership over corporate merger oversight. Her exit comes amid significant ongoing antitrust cases involving Google, Live Nation, Apple, and Visa (04:55).

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4. Rising Financial Stress Among Middle America

Personal Finance Trends

• Imani Moiz (WSJ Personal Finance Reporter) reports increasing financial stress among middle-income Americans, as more seek credit counseling—often a last stop before bankruptcy:

  "The average client now makes $70,000. So that's still considered middle class middle income ... bad outcomes are coming for higher and higher earners." (05:41)

Underlying Factors

• Rising inflation and stagnant wages drive borrowing for essentials, not luxuries:

  "They're seeing debt move from discretionary to survival. So it's not just, 'I'm charging my family vacation to the credit card.' It's 'I'm paying for groceries, I'm paying for gas.'" (06:23)

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5. Markets Update

Stocks and Bonds

• Market jitters around artificial intelligence caused the Nasdaq to plunge over 2%, with the Dow falling below 50,000. (07:53)
• As software and finance sectors brace for AI disruption, investors flood the corporate bond market.
• Sam Goldfarb (WSJ Bond Reporter) notes record-tight credit spreads drive strong bond demand:

  "The gap between those and the yields on ultra safe US Treasuries ... are the tightest spreads we've seen in almost 30 years." (08:21) "Investors also think that maybe the Fed will keep cutting interest rates and that these yields will go down ... So they want to buy them now while they still can." (08:59)

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6. Housing Market Downturn

• Home sales plummeted 8.4% in January—largest drop since February 2022—due to freezing weather and high mortgage rates (09:48).
• Buyers remain cautious, with high home prices and 30-year loan rates above 6%.
• Spring is anticipated as a critical period for any housing recovery.

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7. WSJ Exclusives

a. US Smuggles Starlink Into Iran

• The US Trump administration covertly delivered thousands of Starlink satellite terminals to Iran during last month’s internet shutdown, providing protesters with online access, in the face of Tehran’s crackdown and accusations of US interference (10:10).

b. Naval Collision in the Caribbean

• A US warship collided with a Navy supply vessel during refueling in the Caribbean; two minor injuries reported, both ships operational. Cause and location still unclear (10:35).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Tom Homan: “Operation Metro Surge is ending and in the next week we're going to deploy the officers here...”
  • (01:15)
• Governor Tim Walz: ‘They left us with deep damage, generational trauma. They left us with economic ruin in some cases. They left us with many unanswered questions.’
  • (02:06)
• Michelle Hackman: “They did make a lot of arrests. It remains to be seen how many of those people will actually be deported.”
  • (01:35)
• Imani Moiz: “They're seeing debt move from discretionary to survival. So it's not just, 'I'm charging my family vacation to the credit card.' It's 'I'm paying for groceries, I'm paying for gas.'”
  • (06:23)
• Sam Goldfarb: “The gap between those and the yields on ultra safe US Treasuries ... are the tightest spreads we've seen in almost 30 years.”
  • (08:21)

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• (00:31) – Headlines overview
• (01:15) – Trump admin ends immigration surge in Minnesota; Tom Homan interview
• (01:35–03:35) – Analysis with Michelle Hackman (administration’s motives, local impact, economic effects)
• (03:37) – Senate struggle over Homeland Security funding with Lindsay Wise
• (04:55) – DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater departs
• (05:41–06:53) – Rising financial stress with Imani Moiz
• (07:53–09:48) – Stock market, bond demand, and housing market update with Sam Goldfarb
• (10:10) – WSJ exclusive: US smuggles Starlink into Iran
• (10:35) – US Navy collision in Caribbean

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Conclusion

This episode weaves together rapid policy reversals, financial instability, and international intrigue, providing listeners with clear, concise reporting and informed analysis from the WSJ newsroom. The tone is brisk, newsy, and direct, offering critical context and a preview of how these headline events could shape the months ahead.

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Transcript

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[Alex Osola]

The Trump administration is ending its immigration surge in Minnesota. Plus, signs of financial stress are spreading beyond low income Americans.

[Imani Moiz]

The latest data from a trade group that represents credit counselors is showing that more middle class, middle income Americans are also falling behind on their bills.

[Alex Osola]

And freezing weather sends home sales diving in January. ALEX It's Thursday, February 12th. I'm Alex Osola for the Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of what's news, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today. The Trump administration said today that it's ending the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. Here's border czar Tom Homan speaking this morning.

[Tom Homan]

Operation Metro Surge is ending and in the next week we're going to deploy the officers here on detail back to the home stations or other areas of the country are needed.

[Alex Osola]

For more on the end of the operation and its impact, I'm joined by WSJ immigration reporter Michelle Hackman. Michelle, what were the administration's goals in Minnesota and did it achieve them?

[Michelle Hackman]

Holman framed it that way today. He said we've accomplished everything that we've wanted to here in Minnesota. But if you read between the lines, I think they are actually looking for a way to de escalate. They did make a lot of arrests. It remains to be seen how many of those people will actually be deported.

[Alex Osola]

There's been a lot of tension both in Minnesota and in Washington after federal agents shot and killed U.S. citizens. There were protests and the fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security. Michelle, let me play you a clip of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz after Homan's announcement.

[Tom Homan]

They left us with deep damage, generational trauma. They left us with economic ruin in some cases. They left us with many unanswered questions.

[Alex Osola]

Did the backlash to the administration's policy play a role in the end of the surge?

[Michelle Hackman]

Absolutely. You saw the administration do an about face. They were proud of their work in Minnesota, I would say pretty much up through the shooting of Alex Preddy in Minnesota a few weeks ago. And at that point criticism of their operations boiled over. It wasn't just Democrats, it was coming from Republicans saying this looked too chaotic. So they reversed course. They put in Tom Homan. They sort of cut off the chain of command that had already been there.

[Alex Osola]

In Minnesota, how have Democrats responded to the announcement that the operation is ending?

[Michelle Hackman]

Democrats in Minnesota are saying, we stood up to ICE and we won. We drove them out of our state.

[Alex Osola]

The governor of Minnesota, Tim Wells, also noted that local businesses suffered. As the Journal has also reported. What is the economic impact expected to be after immigration agents leave?

[Michelle Hackman]

I think it's going to be extensive. You saw immigrants, even citizens of foreign descent staying home, not working because they were afraid of ice. And when people don't go out, it means far fewer people are going to restaurants, going to bars. That will take time to recover.

[Alex Osola]

That was WSJ reporter Michelle Hackman. Thanks, Michelle.

[Michelle Hackman]

Thank you.

[Alex Osola]

In Washington, Senate Democrats blocked a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security. They said negotiations with Republicans to put new restrictions on immigration enforcement hadn't made enough progress. The failed vote now puts the department on the verge of a shutdown. A short term funding measure expires after tomorrow. To understand where the Senate goes from here, I put in a quick call to Lindsay Wise, a Journal reporter covering Congress who was still in the Senate after the vote.

[Lindsay Wise]

After this failed vote, the Senate majority leader, John Thune, said that he thought there was no sense in keeping senators here. They're also expected to be on recess or out of session all of next week. He was pretty downbeat about the potential for a deal, but he said that if there is a deal reached in the coming days, he's told people to stay flexible and senators should come back quickly within a day or two. There's actually a sort of a lack of urgency over here in Congress right now, in part because this is only one department. All the rest of the federal government has been funded through September already. Also, just the way the pay cycle works for most of these federal workers, they're likely to get at least partially paid through the end of this month into early March. So I think that things will start to heat up here a little bit more when people start to miss paychecks.

[Alex Osola]

In other political news, Gail Slater, the Justice Department's top antitrust official, is leaving her job. During her 11 months in the role, she clashed with senior officials who sometimes were in favor of more lenient oversight of mergers. Her departure leaves a leadership vacuum while big cases are going on against major US Companies like Google, Live Nation, Apple and Visa. Slater had lost the trust of Attorney General Pam Bondi and other top leaders. That's according to a person Familiar with the Trump administration's thinking, Slater didn't respond to requests for comment. More Americans are falling behind on their mortgage and credit card payments. WSJ personal finance reporter Imani Moiz says the pain is spreading. Beyond low income people, the latest data.

[Imani Moiz]

From a trade group that represents credit counselors is showing that more middle class middle income Americans are also falling behind on their bills. And the data from this organization is particularly alarming because credit counseling is typically seen as the last step before bankruptcy. Credit counselors, they're nonprofits. It's still seen as a private sector solution before you take it to the courts and get a formal restructuring. What they're seeing is that the average client now makes $70,000. So that's still considered middle class middle income. It's not high income, but bad outcomes are coming for higher and higher earners.

[Alex Osola]

Imani says inflation is making it more difficult for people to stay out of debt.

[Imani Moiz]

The head of the trade group that represents these counselors put it best that they're seeing debt move from discretionary to survival. So it's not just I'm charging my family vacation to the credit card. It's I'm paying for groceries, I'm paying for gas. And if you are struggling to pay for those things, then what is the first to go? That would be discretionary spending. The cost of living is getting higher. So everything from housing to groceries to other daily essentials, they're unable to stick to the budgets that they've set for themselves.

[Alex Osola]

Coming up, stock markets are sliding. Investors can't get enough of corporate bonds and how the Trump administration tried to get Iranian protesters online. That's after the break.

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[Alex Osola]

Stocks dropped sharply today on more concerns about AI. The Nasdaq led the major benchmarks lower, dropping more than 2% while the Dow closed back below 50,000. Market fears have spread in recent weeks over how artificial intelligence could disrupt software companies, publishers, financial services firms and others. Meanwhile, Sam Goldfarb, who covers bonds for the Journal, says investors can't get enough of them. You can see the evidence of that in what's called credit spreads, the higher.

[Sam Goldfarb]

Quality the investment grade bonds, the yields that you get on them, the gap between those and the yields on ultra safe US Treasuries, those are the tightest spreads that we've seen in almost 30 years. For more lower rated bonds, it's the tightest spreads since like 2007 or so. That's just a sign, a demand for these bonds because they're willing to accept these yields that are not that much higher than what you can get on government bonds. And government bonds are essentially guaranteed to not default.

[Alex Osola]

Sam says that even though there's concerns about an AI bubble, investors have a lot of demand for tech company bonds.

[Sam Goldfarb]

Even though the gap between these two yields on corporate bonds and Treasuries is small, you're still getting a pretty high yield on corporate bonds relative to what you can get in other parts of the world. Investors also think that maybe the Fed will keep cutting interest rates and that these yields will go down in the future. So they want to buy them now while they still can. And they're relatively optimistic about the economy, and that makes them less concerned about potential defaults. The company is building these giant data centers to power artificial intelligence models. They're needing to borrow a lot to fund those investments. Investors have all this demand for bonds for reasons we discussed. So even though the supply is ramping up with this tech borrowing, it's still not too much to overwhelm the demand for them.

[Alex Osola]

Home sales fell 8.4% last month, the biggest monthly decline since February 2022. Snowstorms and low consumer confidence slowed a housing market that was showing signs of recovery. Stubbornly high home prices and 30 year mortgage rates that are stuck above 6% are also making buyers more picky. But the coming months are going to be key. To see if the housing market is rebounding, many people go house hunting in the spring. We're exclusively reporting that the Trump administration smuggled thousands of Starlink terminals into Iran after the regime's crackdown on demonstrations last month. It was an effort to keep protesters online because Iran shut down Internet access. Tehran has repeatedly accused Washington of playing a role in stirring up dissent in Iran. The US has denied any connection to the uprising. The Starlink operation shows the Trump administration has done more to support efforts against the regime than was previously known. And in another exclusive, we're reporting that a U.S. warship and a Navy supply vessel collided in the Caribbean yesterday during a ship to ship refueling. A military spokesman said that two people reported minor injuries and that both ships can keep sailing safely. The cause and exact location of the incident aren't yet clear. And that's what's news for this Thursday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienname, Anthony Banci and Alexis Moore with supervising producer Tali Arbel. I'm Alex Osola for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.

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