Operation Metro Surge - Private Members' Business
I move:
(1)That this House notes that:
(a)the people of Minneapolis and Minnesota have been subjected to an illegal, violent occupation and immigration crackdown by thousands of federal agents, including United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] and Border Patrol, named "Operation Metro Surge";
(b)Operation Metro Surge has involved violent arrests and abductions by ICE and Border Patrol agents, the tearing apart of immigrant families, the abduction and detention of United States citizens and other legal residents, racial profiling and the indiscriminate sweep of communities by federal forces, warrantless raids of private homes and the suppression of the right to free assembly;
(c)on 7 January 2026, in Minneapolis, Renée Nicole Good was killed by a federal agent after a confrontation with ICE agents while driving her car;
(d)on 24 January 2026, these same federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old United States citizen Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse, while he was assisting a woman in the street being targeted by ICE in Minneapolis;
(e)independent videos reviewed by multiple news organisations shows Mr Pretti with a phone in his hand being pepper-sprayed and tackled to the ground by several federal agents, with one removing a gun he was legally carrying in a holster, before being shot 10 times in less than five seconds;
(f)these events have prompted widespread demonstrations and public protest, and created an atmosphere of terror for the people of Minneapolis and Minnesota, particularly immigrants and all people of colour;
(g)authorities, political representatives and civic leaders in Minnesota, including Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota Mayor Jacob Frey, have called Operation Metro Surge an "unconstitutional federal invasion", creating "fear, violence and chaos" and demanded that President Trump "pull the 3,000 untrained federal agents out of Minnesota";
(h)on 20 January 2026, five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, wearing his blue bunny-shaped hat and a Spider-Man backpack, was detained in the driveway of his home and taken into custody, initially without any parent or guardian despite his mother being at home at the time, and taken to a detention centre in Texas; and
(i)Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were released from detention yesterday after United States District Judge Fred Biery ordered their release, stating at the time that:
(i)the case "has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children"; and
(ii)"Observing human behavior confirms that for some among us, the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds and are bereft of human decency, and the rule of law be damned."
(2)That this House:
(a)expresses its deep concern at ICE's operations and the undermining of human rights protections in the United States, calls on President Trump to immediately end Operation Metro Surge and all other ICE operations as part of his so‑called "immigration crackdown", to respect the rule of law and to ensure impartial, third-party investigations are undertaken into the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti; and
(b)requests that the President of the House write to President Trump conveying this resolution of the House.
In January last year, a few days before Trump became President of the United States [US], I was in Minnesota. I was studying the issue of PFAS contamination in drinking water, meeting with community leaders, senators and business folk. Minnesota was a leader in acting to clean up the toxic forever chemicals of PFAS because of an organised and passionate community who fought for justice, and because representatives from all sides of politics came together and acted in the best interests of their community. Not even a year after Trump's inauguration, Minnesota and its people are under siege in a cruel campaign of violence, terror and tyranny: Operation Metro Surge, ordered by Trump.
For nine weeks now, they have endured this campaign of terror. Dressed and armed like they are ready for war, US federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents are harassing, detaining, pepper‑spraying, assaulting and killing US citizens, even detaining children and ripping babies from their parents' arms. Last week I checked in with someone whom I met while I was in St Paul, Minnesota, to offer whatever support I could from far away Sydney, Australia. She said to me, "Please get the word out as much as you can. Please don't look away." Here is some of what she told me:
I don't have words. My friend was taken and told to her face that they will kill us if we don't comply.
We're resisting but they keep kidnapping us. I stood down 3 cars of agents while holding my son.
We know the world hates Trump but we need help. The news isn't covering the reality—you're getting the sanitized version.
I need to get my children out. We need to get all the children out.
They are taking everyone—kicking in doors, snatching parents at bus stops while they wait for kids, grabbing folks while they shop.
They make up fake warrants.
They are doxxing all of us who are fighting back.
They are holding people for 8-9 hours with no water, no food, no lawyers.
The federal government is invalidating passports for folks who speak up regarding trans rights.
ICE is grabbing people in the airport. 2 flights a day leave with detainees.
They took some kids from a Target store and beat them. They stole their phones and dumped them a few blocks away.
I checked in with her again this morning. She wrote:
ICE is sitting for hours outside our elected school board members homes to intimidate us.
They are following us when we leave our homes.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines tyranny as:
government by a ruler or small group of people who have unlimited power over the people in their country or state and use it unfairly and cruelly
Liam Ramos, the five-year-old who was grabbed by ICE agents walking up his driveway, was released this week from the Texan detention centre where he and his father were illegally detained. Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz held a press conference in response, surrounded by school administrators, counsellors and teachers. He said:
These are the people that our children should be around. Not masked agents carrying automatic weapons who are pulling them away from their families and putting them in inhumane living conditions.
He stressed that other children were in similar situations to Liam Ramos but they do not know how many, as federal agents are not providing the data. People are so afraid that children are staying at home and attending school virtually, and many are absent altogether. Then there are the murders of brave US citizens Renée Nicole Good and Alex Pretti for showing compassion, protecting others and nonviolently resisting the presence of armed, hostile forces in their neighbourhoods. Paragraph (2) of the motion also calls for the following:
(2)That this House:
(a)expresses its deep concern at ICE's operations and the undermining of human rights protections in the United States, calls on President Trump to immediately end Operation Metro Surge and all other ICE operations as part of his so‑called "immigration crackdown", to respect the rule of law and to ensure impartial, third-party investigations are undertaken into the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti; and
(b)requests that the President of the House write to President Trump conveying this resolution of the House.
My friend in Minnesota said, "Please do whatever you can." That is the least we can do as elected representatives of the people of New South Wales to show our support and solidarity with the good, decent people of Minnesota, under siege by their own tyrannical Government.