Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s so-called “border czar,” on Thursday signaled changes to immigration enforcement in Minnesota, doubling down on the administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration despite growing protests.
At a news conference from the Midwestern state where he was dispatched after immigration enforcement officers killed two Americans this month, Homan suggested he would seek to work with local officials who have opposed federal agents’ actions against immigrants and protesters.
Still, he blamed the recent escalation in large part on the policies of former US President Joe Biden’s administration and local authorities, saying more cooperation could reduce violence and lead to “downsizing” of federal workers.
“I’m going to stay here until it’s cleared up,” Homan told reporters Thursday, adding that the Trump administration has promised and will continue to target individuals who are “threats to public safety and threats to national security,” while adding that undocumented people in the country “cannot be ignored in any way.”
“We will conduct targeted enforcement operations. We will target what we have been doing for decades,” Homan said. “When we go out into the streets, we know exactly who we’re looking for.”
While Homan portrayed the approach as business as usual, immigration watchdogs said the administration is increasingly using dragnet tactics to achieve increased capacity.
State and local law enforcement officials even detailed last week that many off-duty police officers were randomly stopped and asked to produce documents. They noted that all those stopped were people of color.
President Trump had promised on the campaign trail that he would only target “criminals,” but shortly after taking office, the White House press secretary said that anyone domestically without evidence is considered to have committed a crime.
Homan welcomed the early “progress” and promised to continue meeting with local and state officials, even if disagreements remain. He highlighted a meeting with State Attorney General Keith Ellison in which he “revealed to me that county jails may notify ICE of the release date of a criminal public safety risk, allowing ICE to take them into custody.”
It remains unclear whether this announcement represents a change in policy. Minnesota has no explicit state law preventing authorities from cooperating with ICE, and the state’s prisons have a long history of coordinating with immigration authorities on individuals convicted of crimes.
County jails typically make adjustments based on their own discretion.
Increased cooperation with local authorities will allow us to “reduce the number of people here,” Homan said, adding that ICE and Border Patrol officials are planning for such a reduction.
President Trump sent Homan to replace Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol’s top official, who was sent to the state as part of a massive enforcement operation called Operation Metro Surge that sparked widespread protests.
Homand hinted at internal changes, but gave no further details, saying only that “no institution or organization is perfect.”
“President Trump and I and others in his administration recognize that certain improvements can and should be made, and that’s exactly what I’m doing here.”
“I want to be clear that ICE and (Border Patrol) officers are doing their jobs under difficult circumstances and extraordinary circumstances,” he said. “They’re trying to do it with professionalism. If they don’t, they’ll be dealt with. Just like any other federal agency, we have standards of conduct.”
Homan later added: “I don’t want to see anyone die. Not police officers, not community members, not the targets of our operations.”
Local authorities have called for an independent state investigation into the killings of Good and Preti, so far blocked by the administration.
Critics have expressed concern that Trump administration officials were quick to claim that both Mr. Good and Mr. Preti had threatened deadly force, long before any investigation took place.
The Trump administration announced earlier this week that it had placed two Border Patrol agents involved in Preti’s murder on administrative leave.
Meanwhile, Democrats in the U.S. Senate are threatening to force a government shutdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) if safeguards aren’t built in to rein in the conduct of immigration officials.
