ICE surge in Minnesota is ending. Here’s what Tom Homan said about the drawdown.

White House border czar Tom Homan on Thursday, Feb. 12, announced the end of Operation Metro Surge, President Donald Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota that began in December.

Homan called the operation a success, announcing that federal immigration agents will draw down over the next week and be redeployed to other parts of the United States.

“A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue to the next week,” Homan said at an early morning news conference. He added, “We have a lot of work to do across this country to remove public-safety risks.”

Demonstrations against ICE have been a near-constant presence in the Twin Cities since the operation began, with the blaring sound of whistles surrounding agents’ activities. The fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in January fueled the demonstrations, which Homan said at times veered into illegal impeding of law enforcement.

Homan also thanked local leaders for their cooperation, including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, for calling for peaceful demonstrations and responding to barricades that popped up in recent days.

“I’m very pleased to report that this surge operation and our work here with state and local officials to improve coordination, and achieve mutual goals, as well as our efforts to address issues of concern here on the ground have yielded the successful results we came here for in the Twin Cities,” Homan said.

Homan also thanked Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara and Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt for their “responsiveness and efforts to maintain law and order in the streets.”

Homan praised the Trump administration’s immigration operations in Minnesota, saying the surge has resulted in taking violent criminals off the streets. Homan claimed that more than 4,000 arrests had been made during the operation, though that number is nearly impossible to independently verify. ICE has refused to release information or provide names of all those detained.

Homan said the immigration operations have “greatly reduced” the number of targets of Operation Metro Surge and weakened Minnesota’s sanctuary policies. He said he’s directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to various areas in the state to respond when sheriff’s offices release detainees.

Homan said a small team of federal agents will remain in Minnesota, in part to tamp down what he called “agitator activity” and to prosecute protesters who have been charged. Federal officials investigating social services fraud in Minnesota, which kicked off the immigration surge in the first place, will also remain “until their work is done,” Homan said.

“I will remain on the ground for a little longer to oversee the drawdown,” he said.