ICE surge in Minnesota is ending, Border Czar Tom Homan says

ICE surge in Minnesota will end, Tom Homan announces

The ICE surge in Minnesota is coming to an end, Border Czar Tom Homan announced on Thursday.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Trump administration will bring an end to the ICE surge in Minnesota after reaching agreements with local authorities, Border Czar Tom Homan announced on Thursday.

ICE surge coming to an end

What we know:

Tom Homan says the White House has already begun drawing down federal officers in Minnesota and the drawdown will continue through next week. The decision to pull out federal officers, Homan says, comes through consultation with President Trump.

Earlier this week, Gov. Walz said he anticipated Homan making a significant drawdown of the ICE surge.

Big picture view:

Homan said the decision was based on new cooperation he's seen from Minnesota and the need for immigration enforcement in other parts of the country.

"We have a lot of work to do across this country to remove public safety risks who shouldn't even be in this country, and to deliver on President Trump's promise for strong border security, mass deportation," said Homan. "Law enforcement officers drawn down from this surge operation will either return to the duty station or be assigned elsewhere to achieve just that." 

By the numbers:

At its peak, there were about 3,000 federal officers in Minnesota between ICE, Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Following the shooting of Alex Pretti, President Trump removed some federal officers. Last week, Tom Homan announced a further drawdown of about 700 officers, bringing the headcount to about 2,000 officers.

Prior to the ICE surge, there were about 80 ICE officers stationed in Minnesota. Last week, Homan indicated Minnesota might not return immediately to that baseline as the White House would keep extra investigators in Minnesota to combat fraud.

MN leaders react

The other side:

In a tweet, Mayor Jacob Frey reacted to the announced, writing: "They thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation. These patriots of Minneapolis are showing that it’s not just about resistance — standing with our neighbors is deeply American. This operation has been catastrophic for our neighbors and businesses, and now it’s time for a great comeback. We will show the same commitment to our immigrant residents and endurance in this reopening, and I’m hopeful the whole country will stand with us as we move forward."

Gov. Tim Walz is slated to hold a news conference at 9:45 a.m. We anticipate he will address Homan's announcement during the press conference. You can watch that below.

'Minnesota is less of a sanctuary state'

What they're saying:

Homan justified the decision by noting significant changes in cooperation with local law enforcement bodies in Minnesota.

"We now have the ability to arrest criminal aliens in the safety and security of jails throughout the state at the time they're being released, like we've done in other states," said Homan. "I've also directed the strategic placement of officers in certain areas throughout the states that respond quickly to sheriffs that want to release somebody and notify us. We need to be nearby so they don't hold them unnecessarily. So we worked on a strategic plan to reassign officers in those key locations. Arresting a public safety threat. And the safety and security of a jail is safer for the alien. It's safer for the officer and safer for the community. I think we all can agree on that."

Homan says the cooperation has made Minnesota "less of a sanctuary state."

"As a result of our efforts here, Minnesota is now less of a sanctuary state for criminals," said Homan. "And we are proud of the public safety threats we have removed from the criminal aliens out of the state."