Border czar Tom Homan: Immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota coming to an end
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After more than two months, the Trump administration announced Thursday that the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota is ending.
“I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude,” White House border czar Tom Homan said at a morning news conference. “A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue through the next week.”
The announcement was greeted with varying degrees of relief and skepticism by local and state elected officials, and community members.
The federal operation began in early December and intensified in early January as hundreds of federal immigration officers flooded into the state. Those agents were met with widespread protests, and countless observers tracking their arrests and operations.
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Federal agents fatally shot two people in Minneapolis — Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti — and also shot and wounded a third person.
In the wake of Pretti’s killing, the White House dispatched Homan to the Twin Cities to take over the operation, replacing Border Patrol official Greg Bovino.
Homan’s willingness to engage with local and state officials over the past few weeks and the discussions that resulted — along with continued community protests and pushback — appeared to be decisive in bringing the operation to an end.
Homan addressed reporters Thursday at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, the base for the ongoing federal immigration operation in Minnesota. It also houses a facility that the Department of Homeland Security has been using to detain people being held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“A small footprint of personnel will remain for a period of time to close out and transition full command and control back to the field office,” Homan said. “I will also remain on the ground for a little longer to oversee the drawdown of this operation and ensure its success.”
Homan did not offer further details on a timeline for the operation.
“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 have came here for,” Homan said.
Homan said federal agents have made more than 4,000 arrests during the operation.
“We’ve had great success with this operation, and we’re leaving Minnesota safer. The surge is leaving Minnesota safer, Minneapolis safer, because of the cooperation we got with the counties in the state and local law enforcement responding to our needs,” Homan said. “It’s less of a sanctuary state for criminals.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke at a previously scheduled news conference later Thursday morning. He said he is “cautiously optimistic” ICE will leave Minnesota.
“The federal government may move on to whatever next thing they want to do. The state of Minnesota and our administration is unwaveringly focused on the recovery of what they did,” Walz said. “The federal government needs to pay for what they broke here.”
Walz then proposed a federal surge response package to support Minnesota businesses affected by the immigration operation.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also released a statement after Homan’s announcement: “They thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation,” he said. “This operation has been catastrophic for our neighbors and businesses, and now it’s time for a great comeback.”
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said she viewed the announcement with skepticism, adding that it will not affect ongoing investigations that her office is pursuing.
“We continue our efforts to investigate multiple actions by federal agents during this occupation,” she said in a statement. “This office will be deliberate, and we will not waver. Our community will not forget, nor will we.”
Moriarty said the operation caused “irreparable damage” to the community.
“Alex Pretti and Renee Good are no longer with their families. Children are traumatized and afraid to go to school. Small businesses are closing. And many of our immigrant neighbors, often with no criminal records, have been forcibly removed from our community,” she said.
Criticism of announcement
Homan’s announcement raised alarms for some immigrant advocates in Minnesota.
Erika Zurawski, co-founder of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, said she was “sick to my stomach” after listening to the news conference.
Citing Homan’s mention of “unprecedented levels of coordination” with state officials and local law enforcement, she accused Walz and other officials of “caving” to the Trump administration.
“Something needed to be done, but what needed to be done was not our leaders caving to racist immigration policies. That’s not what needed to be done. What needed to be done was our leaders standing up on behalf of our community members that have been under attack by vicious and brutal ICE agents,” she said.
The Immigrant Defense Network, a statewide network of more than 100 group, issued a statement saying that Homan’s announcement “does not undo the pain, trauma, and suffering our communities have endured. Does not bring back the lives lost. And it does not answer the question our communities are still asking: Why was this allowed to happen? What comes next remains uncertain.”
“Ending the operation is not justice. Accountability is. We are still assessing the full impact — but one thing is certain: our communities are stronger than any operation designed to intimidate them,” the statement read.
Community groups’ response
Organizations helping families affected by ICE said the announcement of a further drawdown of federal agents will not change how they operate.
Jessica Mathias, the executive director of Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless in Minneapolis, said in recent weeks the organization has been prioritizing crowdfunding and funneling rental assistance to families hiding at home. None of that need will disappear overnight, she said.
“Hearing the news, it was a relief, but it’s just this ultimate sadness that it’s our own government that is creating this panic among citizens,” She said. “And now we're here to pick up the pieces of an already fragile economy that we had in Minnesota and throughout this entire country.”
Since Jan. 28, Mathias said they have been able to help cover rent for 58 households. She said there is a queue of about 70 households waiting for assistance, and she anticipates the waitlist to grow as more residents receive eviction notices — and as another rent deadline approaches.
Twin Cities Food Justice has been delivering about 1,000 bags of groceries weekly to families, through partnerships with schools across the metro area.
Ann Hill, the executive director of Twin Cities Food Justice, said one teacher told her about recently delivering food to a mother of six. It was the first time she had opened her door in three weeks.
Earlier announcements
Last week, Homan announced a drawdown of about a quarter of the immigration agents in the state, but that still left about 2,000 agents in Minnesota. Local elected officials have said they’re not seeing much change in their communities so far. Homan said there are normally about 150 federal officers in Minnesota.
Homan previously said that further reductions in the number of federal agents in Minnesota would come if state and local officials provide more assistance in transferring undocumented immigrants with criminal records from jail custody to federal authorities. He also said further drawdowns would be quicker if protesters stop “impeding and interfering” with federal agents.
Walz said earlier this week that recent conversations with White House officials had led him to believe the surge of federal immigration agents to the state could end soon. He said Minnesota is gearing up to move into the “recovery” phase following an end to the federal operation that’s gone on for more than two months.
Use the audio player to hear reporters Estelle Timar-Wilcox and Dana Ferguson talk to MPR News host Nina Moini on the announcement.
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