Border Czar Tom Homan announced Wednesday that 700 federal immigration officers are being pulled out of Minnesota immediately after a breakthrough cooperation agreement with local authorities.
Homan said the deal will allow safer and more efficient deportation operations.
The withdrawal is roughly one-quarter of the approximately 3,000 federal agents deployed to the Twin Cities under Operation Metro Surge. Approximately 2,000 officers will remain in Minnesota, still significantly higher than the 150 agents stationed there before the surge began.
“Given this increase in unprecedented collaboration, I have announced, effective immediately, they will draw down 700 people,” Homan said at a press conference Wednesday morning in Minneapolis.
The 700 officers leaving Minnesota will be a mix of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Border Patrol agents, and Customs and Border Protection support personnel.
The drawdown follows a breakthrough in negotiations between Homan and Democratic officials in Minnesota, including Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
The Star Tribune reported that the general terms of the deal’s Basic Ordering Agreement would allow county jails to provide ICE with access to detainees for deportation.
“We have made significant progress under the direction of President Trump, working with state and local officials here in Minnesota, and I expect that to increase in the coming weeks,” Homan said. “We continue to have discussions. I’ll have discussions this afternoon. We currently have an unprecedented number of counties communicating with us now and allowing Ice to take custody of illegal aliens before they hit the streets.”
Under the deal, county jails would notify ICE when criminal illegal immigrants are scheduled for release and could hold these criminals for up to 48 hours after their scheduled releases from state custody.
“More agents in the jail means less agents in the street,” Homan explained. “This is common-sense cooperation that allows us to draw down on the number of people we have here. Yes, I said it, draw down the number of people here.”
Homan said the new approach makes enforcement operations safer for everyone involved. He noted that one agent can arrest a criminal suspect in the controlled environment of a jail, whereas street operations require teams of 15 or 16 agents to secure locations and protect officers from potential weapons and angry mobs of protesters.
“This coordination makes it far safer for the Twin Cities,” Homan said. “The state prisons already cooperate with ICE on this coordinated transfer of custody, and we thank them for this partnership.”
President Trump sent Homan to Minnesota on Monday to take direct control of Operation Metro Surge and find solutions to the escalating crisis. The administration removed Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino from his position after tensions mounted between officers and protesters.
Homan made clear that the drawdown does not represent a retreat from the Trump administration’s mass deportation mission.
“We’re not surrendering the president’s mission on immigration enforcement,” he said. “If you’re in the country illegally, if we find you, we’ll deport you.”