President Donald Trump’s border czar says he is reducing the number of immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota after state and local officials agreed to turn over arrested immigrants. Tom Homan says about 700 federal officers will be immediately withdrawn from the operation in Minnesota. Th.<\/b>
\nThe Trump administration is reducing the number of immigration officers in Minnesota but will continue its enforcement operation that has sparked weeks of tensions and deadly confrontations, border czar Tom Homan said Wednesday.
About 700 federal officers \u2014 roughly a quarter of the total deployed to Minnesota \u2014 will be withdrawn immediately after state and local officials agreed over the past week to cooperate by turning over arrested immigrants, Homan said.
Other WRAL Top Stories
But he did not provide a timeline for when the administration might end the operation that has become a flashpoint in the debate over President Donald Trump\u2019s mass deportation efforts since the fatal shootings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
About 2,000 officers will remain in the state after this week\u2019s drawdown, Homan said. That\u2019s roughly the same number sent to Minnesota in early January when the surge ramped up, kicking off what the Department of Homeland Security called its \u201c largest immigration enforcement operation ever.\u201d
Since then, masked, heavily armed officers have been met by resistance from residents who are upset with their aggressive tactics.
A widespread pullout, Homan said, will occur only after there’s more cooperation and protesters stop interfering with federal agents carrying out arrests.
Trump told NBC News that he ordered the reduction and added that one lesson coming out of the turmoil in Minnesota is \u201cmaybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch. But you still have to be tough.\u201d
Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, both Democrats who have heavily criticized the surge, said pulling back 700 officers was a good first step but that the entire operation should end quickly.
\u201cWe need 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,\u201d Walz posted on social media.
Vice President JD Vance said the officers being sent home were mainly in Minneapolis to protect those carrying out arrests. \u201cWe\u2019re not drawing down the immigration enforcement,\u201d Vance said in an interview on \u201cThe Megyn Kelly Show.\u201d
Trump’s border czar took over the Minnesota operation in late January after the second fatal shooting by federal officers and amid growing political backlash and questions about how the operation was being run.
Homan said right away that federal officials could reduce the number of agents in Minnesota, but only with the cooperation of state and local officials. He pushed for jails to alert Immigration and Customs Enforcement about inmates who could be deported, saying transferring those inmates to ICE is safer because it means fewer officers have to be out looking for people in the country illegally.
Homan said during a news conference Wednesday that there has been an \u201cincrease in unprecedented collaboration\u201d resulting in the need for fewer public safety officers in Minnesota and a safer environment, allowing for the withdrawal of the 700 officers.
He didn\u2019t say which jurisdictions have been cooperating with DHS. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that the administration will monitor local officials to make sure they keep their commitments.
The Trump administration has long complained that places known as sanctuary jurisdictions \u2014 a term applied to local governments that limit law enforcement cooperation with the department \u2014 hinder the arrest of criminal immigrants.
Minnesota officials say its state prisons and nearly all of the county sheriffs already cooperate with immigration authorities.
But the two county jails that serve Minneapolis and St. Paul and take in the most inmates had not previously met ICE\u2019s standard of full cooperation, although they both hand over inmates to federal authorities when an arrest warrant is signed by a judge.
The Hennepin County Sheriff\u2019s Office, which serves Minneapolis and several suburbs, said its policies have not changed. County Attorney Mary Moriarty said the jail gives ICE legally required information, adding that handing over someone before they’re convicted \u201cstrips our community of the accountability it deserves and harms victims by robbing them of a court process.\u201d
The Ramsey County Sheriff\u2019s Office in neighboring St. Paul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Homan said he thinks the ICE operation in Minnesota has been a success, checking off a list of people wanted for violent crimes who were taken off the streets.
\u201cI think it\u2019s very effective as far as public safety goes,\u201d he said Wednesday. \u201cWas it a perfect operation? No.\u201d
He also made clear that pulling some federal officers out of Minnesota isn’t a sign that the administration is backing down. \u201cWe are not surrendering the president\u2019s mission on a mass deportation operation,\u201d Homan said.
\u201cYou\u2019re not going to stop ICE. You\u2019re not going to stop Border Patrol,\u201d Homan said of the ongoing protests. \u201cThe only thing you\u2019re doing is irritating your community.\u201d
Two Minnesota school districts and a teachers union filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block federal authorities from conducting immigration enforcement at or around schools, saying their actions have disrupted classes, endangered students and caused attendance drops.
The lawsuit also argues that Operation Metro Surge has marked a shift in policy that removed long-standing limits on enforcement in \u201csensitive locations,\u201d including schools.
Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said \u201cICE is not going to schools to arrest children \u2014 we are protecting children.\u201d
___
Associated Press reporters Corey Williams in Detroit; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Moriah Balingit in Washington contributed.<\/p>\n