Minnesota DOC Challenges DHS Claims On Immigration Arrests

ST. PAUL (WJON News) -- The Minnesota Department of Corrections says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is continuing to publish false arrest claims.

Get our free mobile app

In a release on Monday, the DOC says Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest claims posted on its website are being mischaracterized and are instead routine custody transfers from Minnesota State Prisons.

Read More: Minnesota DOC Responds To Misinformation On Immigration Enforcement |

The DHS's "Worst of the Worst" website allows you to search by state and city for "criminal illegal aliens that have been removed from the state".  However, DOC says it quickly identified 68 cases in which people were transferred from state custody directly to ICE, not DHS's claim that these same individuals were "arrested" by waves of federal agents.  DOC says these routine transfers are documented, scheduled, and verifiable.  They say it is troubling that DHS is taking credit for "arrests" that are actually state-to-federal handoffs occurring at prison facilities after individuals complete their state terms of imprisonment, and it has been a longstanding practice.

One example the DOC has shared involves a man in St. Cloud.  Records show Mauricio Morales-Morales is currently in state custody serving his state sentence at the St. Cloud Prison. On June 2nd, 2025, at the request of federal authorities, DOC coordinated the transfer of Morales to a court hearing on a writ.  Morales was returned to state custody following the hearing on September 24th, 2025.  He was not 'arrested' in the community.  However, DHS is claiming he was arrested by federal agents and is currently in ICE custody, when in fact he is still in the state prison in St. Cloud.

DOC information shows he Morales was sentenced on March 25th, 2025, and had a release date of July 31st, 2042.

A news story written by The Daily Globe in Worthington reports that Morales-Morales was tried and sentenced to prison in Nobles County in March of 2025. He was then transferred to the state prison in St. Cloud.