Border czar Tom Homan: Minnesota ICE surge to end

The Trump administration will phase out most of its flood of federal agents in Minnesota, White House border czar Tom Homan said Thursday, bringing within sight an end to what’s been called the largest immigration enforcement deployment in U.S. history.

Homan said a significant drawdown of federal agents in Minnesota has already occurred this week and will continue into the next. Operation Metro Surge, he added, has yielded “successful results” in the Twin Cities, including the arrests of 4,000 people. This latest pullback follows the decision last week to withdraw 700 of the 3,000 agents originally sent to the state late last year.

“There’s some issues here; we fixed those issues, we’ve had some great success from this operation, and we’re leaving Minnesota safer,” Homan said. He specifically cited the cooperation between the administration and those counties that “responded to our needs.”

The extraordinary immigration operations have upended the state since the administration first deployed agents to Minnesota in December and sent more in January. The federal agents’ tactics, including dramatic and confrontational street scenes, prompted protests and mounting criticism that built to a peak in the aftermath of their fatal shootings of Renee Good, a mother and poet, and Alex Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse. The violence also included a car chase by federal officers that ended with the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant who was not the target of the operation.

Homan said a small footprint of agents will remain in Minnesota as others transition out of the state, a process he will oversee. He touted the success of conversations with state and local officials, including more cooperation with sheriff’s offices for access to county jails. Homan said he hasn’t encountered a county jail that “says no to us” about ICE detainers, a frequent sticking point between the U.S. government and Minnesota leaders.

Hennepin County, the state’s most populous, said in a statement that it has made no changes in its policies to meet federal requests for greater cooperation.

Earlier this week, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signaled an end to the federal surge could be imminent after talks with Homan and White House officials. Walz made the comments during a news conference that highlighted the damage done to the Minneapolis economy, citing a 50% to 80% drop in sales for restaurants.

“Over the past six weeks, the state of Minnesota and the people of this great state have endured an unprecedented invasion,” Walz said. “We’ve been through natural disasters, we’ve been through COVID, but this is something I don’t think any state has ever experienced.”

The governor said unanswered questions remain, including whether there will be investigations into the killings of Good and Pretti by ICE officers.

“They left us with deep damage, generational trauma,” Walz said of the federal operation. “They left us with economic ruin, in some cases.”

The Jan. 24 fatal shooting of Pretti by federal agents on Nicollet Avenue proved a turning point. Within days, Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, who had been the belligerent public face of the operation, was removed from his role. International condemnation also ensued about the same time over the detainment of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, photographed in his blue rabbit hat and Spider-Man school backpack, being escorted into a federal vehicle. The child was sent with his father to a Texas holding facility and kept there for days until being returned to Minnesota.

In the wake of those disturbing images, Homan was sent to Minnesota to take charge of the situation. While not addressing specifics during a news conference at Fort Snelling, Homan acknowledged the operation had faults.

The attorney for Good’s family said Thursday they are “cautiously optimistic” about the drawdown and “hopeful that it brings much needed relief to members of the community there.”

“The nation will be watching to see if and where these agents are redeployed. The agents’ departure from Minnesota does not dismiss the absolute need for accountability for their actions during Operation Metro Surge, and we are committed to seeking justice for our clients. Further, we remain deeply concerned about the continued presence of ICE in communities around the country and we urge for Constitutional conduct by federal agents across the board,” the statement said.

Homan’s announcement about the drawdown drew a mix of reactions from Minnesota’s local and congressional leaders, with some expressing skepticism and others focused on the need for recovery.

“Minnesotans stood together, stared down ICE, and never blinked. Our state has shown the world how to protect our democracy and take care of our neighbors,” U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said in a statement. “ICE withdrawing from Minnesota is just the beginning. We need accountability for the lives lost and the extraordinary abuses of power at the hands of ICE agents, and we must see a complete overhaul of the agency.”

Minneapolis City Council President Elliott Payne expressed doubt that the Trump administration would actually follow through on Homan’s announcement.

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in a post on X said she has similar doubts.

“I’m relieved that this violent paramilitary force will be removed from our streets, but I won’t believe it until they’re actually gone,” she said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey struck a more optimistic tone in a statement to the Star Tribune saying, “They thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation. These patriots of Minneapolis are showing that it’s not just about resistance — standing with our neighbors is deeply American.“

Frey added that Operation Metro Surge has been “catastrophic for our neighbors and businesses, and now it’s time for a great comeback.”

Not long after Homan’s announcement, ICE remained active on the streets. About 10 a.m., witnesses saw agents pull over a pickup truck in northeast Minneapolis and detain two Latino men. A video from a witness shows that several agent vehicles surrounded the detainees’ truck at a bus stop at Central Avenue and St. Anthony Parkway. Four masked agents got out and handcuffed the driver.