Border czarTom Homanon Thursday said PresidentDonald Trumphas agreed with his proposal to conclude the monthslong federal immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota.
"We've seen a big change here in the last couple of weeks," Homan said at a press conference in Minneapolis. "All good changes."
Homan said the number of enforcement targets in the Twin Cities region, which has been flooded since December with thousands of officers from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agencies, has been "greatly reduced."
Homan last week had announced adrawdown of 700 agentsfrom the area encompassing Minneapolis and St. Paul, a roughly 25% pullback that still left about 2,000 officers in place.
The total withdrawal "will continue to the next week," he said Thursday morning.
Homan added that a "small footprint" of personnel will stay in the area "for a period of time" to transition command back to a local field office, and to ensure "agitator activity" does not flare back up.
The conclusion of "Operation Metro Surge" was announced less than three weeks afterTrump deployed Homanto Minnesota to run the sweeping deportation mission, replacing Border Patrol commander at large Gregory Bovino.
That shake-up followed the deaths ofRenee Nicole GoodandAlex Pretti, two U.S. citizens who were fatally shot by federal agents in separate altercations in January.
The killings massively inflamed tensions over the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota, spurring widespread protests and rapidly souring public opinion toward ICE.
Homan in Thursday's presser touted a recent de-escalation in those tensions, crediting improved cooperation between the federal government and state and local leaders since he took over.
Source: Drudge Report
