Tom Homan cited increased cooperation with local authorities, but promised enforcement efforts would continue.
U.S. Border Patrol Chief Tom Homan announced that President Donald Trump’s administration is “withdrawing” 700 immigration enforcement agents from Minnesota, while pledging to continue operations in the northern state.
Wednesday’s update was the latest sign that the Trump administration is pivoting to tougher enforcement in the state after two Americans were killed by immigration officers in Minneapolis in January.
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Homan, who is officially referred to as President Trump’s “border czar,” said the decision came amid a new cooperative agreement with local officials, specifically related to detaining individuals in county jails. Details of these agreements were not immediately available.
Approximately 3,000 immigration enforcement officers are currently believed to be in Minnesota as part of President Trump’s enforcement efforts.
“Given the unprecedented increase in collaboration and the need to reduce the number of law enforcement officers to do this work in a safer environment, I am announcing a reduction of 700 law enforcement personnel, effective today, by 700,” Homan said.
The announcement comes after Homan was deployed to Minnesota in late January following widespread protests against immigration enforcement and the killings of Renee Nicole Good by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on January 7 and Alex Preti by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents on January 24, both in Minneapolis.
Homan said reforms made since taking office include merging ICE and CBP under a single chain of command.
He said President Trump “intends to achieve mass deportations during this administration, and immigration enforcement will continue every day across this country.”
Immigration rights watchdogs said the government’s mass deportation approach has seen officials increasingly use “dragnet” tactics, such as stopping individuals at random and demanding documentation, to achieve large-scale detention quotas. The administration is increasingly detaining illegal aliens with no criminal records, including U.S. citizens and people legally entitled to live in the United States.
Homan said investigators will prioritize those they deem to be “threats to public safety,” but added, “Prioritizing threats to public safety does not mean we forget about everyone else. We will continue to enforce our immigration laws in this country.”
He added that this “reduction” does not apply to what he called “staff providing security to staff.”
“Until we see change, we have no intention of reducing the number of personnel who provide security and respond to hostile incidents,” he said.
Critics have accused immigration officers, who do not have the same level of crowd control training as most local police, of using excessive force when responding to protesters and individuals legally monitoring their movements.
Trump administration officials have routinely blamed “instigators” for the unrest. They accused both Mr. Good and Mr. Preti of threatening police officers before the killing, but video evidence of the exchange contradicts that characterization.
Last week, the government announced it was launching a federal civil rights investigation into Preti’s killing. Preeti was pinned to the ground by immigration officials and shot dead. That was shortly after agents removed the gun from Preeti’s body. Preti did not have a gun drawn and was legally in possession.
Federal authorities have not opened a civil rights investigation into Goode’s killing, and have maintained that Goode had tried to run over an ICE agent before he was shot. Video evidence emerged showing Good trying to turn away from the agent.
Thousands of people took to the streets in Minneapolis and other U.S. cities on Friday amid calls for a federal strike to protest the Trump administration’s deportation push.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and other state and local officials have also challenged the surge in immigration enforcement in their state, arguing that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and CBP, violates constitutional protections.
A federal judge said last week that the company would not suspend operations while the case progresses through court. Justice Department lawyers dismissed the lawsuit as “legally frivolous.”
