Click to expand Image People march in Minneapolis, Minnesota march to protest the actions of federal agents with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency during their immigration crackdown, Operation Metro Surge, in the state, January 30, 2026. © 2026 Dave Decker/ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters The first public meeting of the Minnesota Truth Council, a transitional justice mechanism established to create a historical record of the federal government’s abusive immigration enforcement operations in the state earlier this year, took place on August 26. An independent body comprised of experts and community members, the Minnesota Truth Council will hold hearings and collect testimony from community members over the coming weeks, documenting both abuses and the efforts of Minnesotans to defend their rights.Minnesota prosecutors, meanwhile, have pursued criminal charges against individual agents for alleged abuses, including an agent that shot a resident in the leg, who they are trying to extradite from Texas.These actions represent promising steps toward accountability following widespread human rights violations committed by federal agents and documented by Human Rights Watch in Minnesota, including repeated instances of excessive force, racial profiling, unlawful detentions, and abusive detention conditions. So far, those responsible for this abuse have acted with near total impunity.At the national level, Congress held oversight hearings in the House and Senate following public outrage after federal immigration agents unlawfully killed two US citizens in Minnesota in January. Some House members have created an online dashboard to track reports of abuse by immigration agents. But congressional oversight of immigration enforcement has otherwise been limited, even as Congress has expansively funded enforcement operations.As federal agents arrest record numbers of people in encounters that have often been violent, including two killings in Texas and Maine in July, more needs to be done to protect the rights of immigrants and other residents.Local governments should follow Minnesota’s lead and take steps to rein in abuse by federal authorities, including by enacting reforms to restrict local law enforcement from abusively collaborating with immigration agents. Congress should exercise greater oversight and consider passing reforms to halt rights violations and deliver remedies for past harms.