The Trump administration is withdrawing the federal immigration presence in the Twin Cities, with an immediate plan to withdraw 700 officers from the area. This was confirmed by border czar Tom Homan during the administration’s press briefing on Wednesday at the Bishop Whipple Federal Building.
This withdrawal follows weeks of tense negotiations between the administration and Minnesota officials. According to Homan, the withdrawal was made possible by the administration’s improving relations with local law enforcement officials and county jail officials, which will enable the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to directly take the targeted individuals from the local jails instead of arresting them in public.
“My goal is, with President Trump’s support, to achieve a complete drawdown,” Homan said during the press briefing. He added that the withdrawal will depend on the state’s continued cooperation with the administration, as well as the reduction in violence, rhetoric, and attacks against the immigration officers.
The step back is a major de-escalation for an administration that has been criticized at a national level. The federal government’s presence in Minneapolis has been met with outrage after two separate enforcement actions in January resulted in fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Good, a mother of three, and Pretti, an ICU nurse, have brought the Twin Cities to a rallying cry for anti-enforcement protests and demands for increased accountability of federal agents.
Homan was appointed by President Trump to take over the operation, dubbed “Operation Metro Surge,” after the previous operation leader, Greg Bovino, was reassigned following the fatal shootings. Homan, who served as acting ICE director in Trump’s first term, has been brought in to steady the operation. Despite claims that the operation is required for public safety and to clear immigration backlogs, the 700 agents’ withdrawal is the first major tactical retreat since the operation commenced.
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