The Trump administration announced it would reduce the number of immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota after weeks of unrest in Minneapolis, where two people were killed in confrontations with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Tom Homan, the administration’s border czar, told reporters that 700 of roughly 3,000 federal officers deployed around the upper Midwest state would be withdrawn “immediately.” He said state and local officials agreed to cooperate with ICE by turning over arrested immigrants to federal custody, a change he described as an “increase in unprecedented collaboration” that would allow for fewer “public safety officers” in what he called a “safer environment.”
Homan said officers would now take custody of criminal aliens directly from jails rather than detaining people on the streets — an approach he proposed last week as part of an agreement to scale back ICE forces in Minnesota.
ICE operations and raids in Minneapolis neighborhoods, reportedly aimed at immigrants targeted for deportation, sparked major public outcry and street protests confronting federal agents. Tensions escalated after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good while she sat in her car. Weeks later, another protester, intensive care nurse Alex Pretti, 37, was beaten and shot multiple times by federal agents as he tried to help a woman being pushed to the ground during a demonstration.
The White House and Trump’s Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem characterized both victims as “terrorists” who posed threats to ICE officers, despite extensive video evidence that critics say contradicts those accounts. Those official depictions, and broader government narratives that opponents call inaccurate, prompted widespread condemnation and increased pressure on the administration.
The deaths also focused attention on ICE training and recruitment. New ICE agents complete an eight-week (47-day) training program, far shorter than the 10 to 11 months required for Minneapolis police recruits, critics noted. They also pointed to recruitment materials that have used far-right or white nationalist slogans to encourage enlistment.
In response to the backlash, the administration removed Customs and Border Protection commander Gregory Bovino and installed Homan in his place; Homan said he would scale back ICE operations if local officials met certain conditions.
Homan defended the Minnesota operation as successful, saying many people were removed from the streets of the Twin Cities and praising a unified chain of command intended to ensure rules were followed. “Was it a perfect operation? No,” he said, but he maintained that no one “purposely” failed to do what they should have done.
Even with the announced drawdown, roughly 2,000 ICE officers will remain in Minnesota. Homan has said he will not leave Minneapolis “until we get it all done.”
Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez