‘Border czar’ Tom Homan’s arrival in Minnesota signals shift by Trump administration

President Donald Trump is deploying his “border czar” to Minneapolis as a political crisis grows over his administration’s immigration enforcement tactics, a move many Republicans view as an effort to calm tensions in Minnesota.

The news came on Monday, Jan. 26, the same day that Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey spoke to Trump, with all three reporting productive conversations. Walz and Trump discussed the possibility of reducing the number of agents in Minnesota, and Frey said after his call that some federal agents would begin leaving on Tuesday.

As the White House appears to shift its stance on the Minnesota campaign, Trump sent in Tom Homan, a veteran leader of Immigration and Customs Enforcement who is in charge of the country’s borders and the president’s deportation efforts.

Homan is expected to be the main point of contact on the ground, the White House said, a role previously led in part by Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino.

Bovino’s style had drawn criticism in recent weeks, including his assertion that Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by federal agents Jan. 24, was intent on massacring law enforcement. His comments have been widely criticized for lacking evidence and are drawing bipartisan backlash, including from gun rights advocates.

Homan is viewed by some commentators as less inflammatory, and news of his assignment to Minnesota coincided with reports that Bovino and some federal agents will be pulled back from the state.

The White House, asked about Frey’s claim that the number of agents would be reduced, referred the Minnesota Star Tribune to a Truth Social post from Trump about their meeting. “Lots of progress is being made!” Trump posted, though he did not directly reference agent numbers.

Preya Samsundar, a GOP operative in Minnesota who previously worked for the Republican National Committee, said Homan brings a “level of sensitivity” that others in the administration are not displaying.

“I think that’s why the fact that … he’s being sent out here today and he is being told to directly report to Trump is a sign that they’re taking the shift seriously," Samsundar said.

Trump said in another post on Truth Social that Homan “knows and likes many of the people” in Minnesota and is “tough but fair” and will report directly to the president.

National news outlets have reported that Homan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have been fierce rivals within the Trump administration. Noem has been a prominent figure in the administration’s response to the immigration crackdown. She has faced criticism for saying Pretti’s actions fit the definition of domestic terrorism.

When ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier in January, Homan initially declined to comment, and in a later interview on “CBS Evening News,” he called for the investigation to play out. That was in contrast to Noem, Vice President JD Vance and others who immediately said the shooting was a justified act of self defense.

U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, the highest ranking Republican in the Minnesota delegation, reacted on social media to the announcement by saying Homan would “help end the chaos in Minnesota.”

“Tom Homan’s arrival in Minnesota is an opportunity for a reset through the collaboration that President Trump has been pushing for between the federal government and state/local law enforcement,” said Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, a Republican from Cold Spring, in a post on social media.

Homan was initially appointed to a leadership position in ICE in 2013 by then-President Barack Obama, and he briefly ran the agency during Trump’s first term. He has favored an aggressive deportation campaign.

Last year, Homan was in the middle of a controversy over the government’s effort to deport Venezuelans to a prison in El Salvador. He was also a key figure in pushing a massive budget increase for border security spending.

He denied reports last year that he took $50,000 in cash in a bag from undercover agents as part of an FBI sting. That led to a bribery investigation that was later shut down by the Department of Justice.

Instead, Leavitt said Homan is in a “unique position to drop everything and go to Minnesota to continue having these productive conversations with state and local officials.”

Leavitt said she has not heard Trump characterize Pretti as a domestic terrorist. Leavitt said nobody in the White House “wants to see people getting hurt or killed in America’s streets.”

“This includes Renee Good, Alex Pretti, the brave men and women of federal law enforcement and the many Americans who have been victimized at the hands of illegal alien criminals,” she said.

Sydney Kashiwagi and Ryan Faircloth of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.