News of federal agent drawdown met with skepticism, calls for more action
Federal agent drawdown in Minnesota met with skepticism
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State and local officials and community groups opposing the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota reacted skeptically Wednesday to news that 700 federal agents will leave the state.
White House official Tom Homan said about 2,000 federal agents would remain in the state following the drawdown, still far more than the 150 he said would typically be in Minnesota. Homan said he wanted to get back to that “normal operational footprint.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called the drawdown “a step in the right direction” but said the White House needed to move faster.
In a social media post, Frey said that “2,000 ICE officers still here is not de-escalation” — and reiterated his call for the federal operation to end immediately.
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Walz also called for “a faster and larger drawdown of forces, state-led investigations into the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and an end to this campaign of retribution.”
A coalition of Minnesota faith, labor and other community groups opposed to the federal operation called Homan’s announcement a “political stunt,” saying that “there are still thousands of masked, unaccountable agents terrorizing our communities, attacking peaceful observers, and undermining Minnesotans’ constitutional and civil rights.”
In an interview with MPR News, the leader of one of those groups questioned Homan’s assertion that federal agents will leave when observers stop interfering with agents.
“There's no interference in making sure children that should be at school, should be at peace and should be taken care of are able to do that every morning,” said Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, Executive Director of Unidos Minnesota. “Are these acts supposed to happen in the dark?”
— Clay Masters, Gretchen Brown and MPR News staff
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