MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Trump administration is reducing the number of immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota after state and local officials agreed to cooperate by turning over arrested immigrants, border czar Tom Homan said Wednesday.
About 700 federal officers — roughly a quarter of the total deployed around Minnesota — will be withdrawn immediately, Homan said.
But Homan did not give a timeline when the operation might end in Minnesota after weeks of turmoil in the Twin Cities and escalated protests, especially since the killing of protester Alex Pretti, the second fatal shooting by federal officers in Minneapolis.
A widespread pullout will only occur after people stop interfering with federal agents carrying out arrests and setting up roadblocks to impede the operations, Homan said. About 2,000 officers will remain in the state after this week’s drawdown, he said.
“Given this increase in unprecedented collaboration, and as a result of the need for less public safety officers to do this work and a safer environment, I am announcing, effective immediately, we’ll draw down 700 people effective today — 700 law enforcement personnel,” Homan said during a news conference.
He didn’t say which jurisdictions have been cooperating with the Department of Homeland Security.
Homan said last week that federal officials could reduce the number of federal agents in Minnesota, but only if state and local officials cooperate. His comments came after President Donald Trump seemed to signal a willingness to ease tensions in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Homan had pushed for jails to alert Immigration and Customs Enforcement to inmates who could be deported, saying transferring such inmates to ICE is safer because it means fewer officers have to be out looking for people in the country illegally.
The Trump administration has long complained that places known as sanctuary jurisdictions — a term generally applied to local governments that limit law enforcement cooperation with DHS — hinder the arrest of criminal immigrants.
Homan said Wednesday that he thinks the ICE operation in Minnesota has been a success.
“Yeah, I just listed a bunch of people we took off the streets of the Twin Cities, so I think it’s very effective as far as public safety goes,” Homan said. “Was it a perfect operation? No. No. We created one unified chain of command to make sure everybody is on the same page. And make sure we follow the rules. I don’t think anybody, purposely, didn’t do something they should have done.”
