White House Border Czar Tom Homan speaks on FOX News on the North Lawn of the White House on February 6, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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President Donald Trump and the White House announced Monday that Trump administration Border Patrol agent Tom Homan will head to Minnesota to manage field operations for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the wake of the killing of Alex Preti by federal agents in Minneapolis.
“Tom is tough but fair and will report directly to me,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said in a separate social media post that Homan would coordinate with officials leading an investigation into an ongoing fraud scheme in Minnesota.
According to Trump’s post, Homan had not previously been involved in Minnesota, where thousands of federal agents have been deployed in recent weeks to carry out the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation plan.
In less than a month, two Americans were shot and killed in Minneapolis during an altercation with federal agents. The killing sparked massive protests, sharp condemnation of ICE from Democrats and calls for de-escalation from business leaders.
Trump’s decision to give Homan power in Minnesota comes amid growing criticism of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other administration officials, including from gun rights groups and some conservatives, over their leadership and rhetoric in Minneapolis.
Fox News reported on Sunday that some senior immigration enforcement officials have become “increasingly concerned and frustrated by some of the claims and arguments pushed by DHS” in the wake of recent shootings.
Axios reported last month that Noem and Homan had a tense and rocky working relationship. President Trump praised both officials.
In a statement on X, Noem said President Trump’s decision to appoint Homan to Minnesota is “good news for peace, security and accountability in Minneapolis.”
“I have worked closely with Tom over the last year, and he is a great asset to our team. His experience and insight will help us investigate this massive fraud that robbed Americans of their money and remove even more public safety threats and violent criminal illegal aliens from the streets of Minneapolis,” Noem said.
“We continue to call on Minnesota leaders to enable state and local cooperation in our public safety mission,” she said.
Tensions in Minnesota have boiled over after two killings by federal agents in Minneapolis.
Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot and killed by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on January 7 as she began driving her SUV after another agent ordered her to get out of her car.
On Saturday, Preti, 37, an intensive care unit nurse in Minneapolis, was shot and killed by federal agents.
Both killings took place in broad daylight in front of witnesses and were captured on video from multiple angles, significantly increasing already intense scrutiny of immigration officers’ tactics and training.
In both cases, numerous Trump administration officials rushed to defend the investigators’ actions, making claims that subsequent analysis found contradicted by available video evidence.
Protesters hold a vigil in Minneapolis, United States, on January 25, 2026, to commemorate Alex Preti, a man who was shot and killed by federal immigration enforcement officers the day before.
Arthur Maiorella | Anadolu | Getty Images
On the same day that Preti was killed, the Department of Homeland Security claimed that Preti approached a U.S. Border Patrol agent with a handgun and “violently resisted” them as they tried to disarm him.
Nomu also agreed with those words. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino then claimed that Preti may have intended a “massacre of law enforcement.”
However, the video shows Preeti holding up the phone just as the confrontation begins. The clip also shows one of the officers removing the weapon from Preeti’s body before the shots are fired.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at a news conference that Preti is believed to be a legal gun owner with a license.
Asked by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday whether he thought shooting Preti was the right thing to do, President Trump did not respond directly.
“We’re looking at everything, we’re considering it, and we’re going to make a decision,” Trump told the newspaper.
