Introduction: Taking Stock

Abstract This introduction to the Against the Day dossier frames the events of Operation Metro Surge, a large-scale immigration enforcement program jointly carried out by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with the stated purpose of apprehending and deporting undocumented immigrants from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and Saint Paul). Providing historical and political context for the events of January 2026, the introduction provides a description of the rapid-response and mutual aid operations active in the cities, an overview of the key interest groups involved in the resistance, and orients readers toward its radically non-partisan municipalism.