Trump’s border chief says controversial Minneapolis immigration operation will end
Listen to this article
Average 3 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. It can be mispronounced. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
The crackdown on immigrants in Minnesota that led to mass arrests, protests and the death of two US citizens is coming to an end, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday.
“I have proposed and President Trump has agreed that this operation is over,” Tom Homan said at a morning news conference in Minneapolis.
About 3,000 federal agents were deployed to the state in early December as part of Operation Metro Surge, a combination of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). Homan last week announced that about 700 officers, a mix of agents from both agencies, were leaving.
Homan on Thursday did not provide a timeline for the next withdrawal, but said officers will return to “home stations” or be sent to other U.S. cities for deployment. The number of officers in Minnesota will return to pre-surgery levels, which according to most reports usually contain large numbers of people.
Tensions flared in the already controversial job when Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed on Jan. 7 is an ICE officer.
Alex Pretti, also 37 years old and a critical care nurse, was shot dead on January 24 by two Border Patrol agents. Among the deadly incidents, a government official shot another citizen in the leg.
Front burner30:09ICE, and studies from Minnesota
‘We had great success’
The federal government said the operation is necessary in its effort to take illegal immigrants off the streets and because federal efforts have been hampered by state and local “sanctuary laws and policies.”
“There are problems here, we have fixed those problems,” said Homan. “We’ve had great success with this project, and we’re leaving Minnesota safer.”
The killing of two American citizens in Minneapolis has sparked fears of tyranny and abuse of power. On the Nation, CBC’s Terence McKenna examines what the rising rate of violence against federal agents says about lawlessness in the ranks and how Donald Trump is governing America.
Homan arrived in Minneapolis on Jan. 26, sent by Trump after the shootings, with the head of Customs and Border Protection Greg Bovino – whose fiery statements have angered many local officials – withdraw from the scene.
Homan’s announcement came as Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Keith Ellison, the state’s attorney general, testified in Washington, DC, on Thursday about the controversy that led to the city, and to address the concerns of Republican administration about the ongoing fraud case in Minnesota. Senior ICE and CBP officials were also scheduled to testify.
Democrats have been calling for change to take on the Trump administration on immigration. Congress is debating potential new rules for ICE and CBP officials after two deadly shootings in Minneapolis, which followed a deadly shooting in Chicago last year amid the Trump administration’s second crackdown on deportations.
But it’s unclear whether the president or enough Republicans will agree to any of the Democrats’ major demands, which include requiring officials to unmask and reveal themselves, and to obtain judicial warrants in certain cases.
