In Minnesota and Maine, Trump administration signals a shift on immigration
The Trump administration appears to be softening its approach to immigration control in some areas, amid protests from the public and Democratic lawmakers following the recent killing of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border official, announced Thursday that he is working on a “drawdown” plan that would reduce the number of federal immigration agents in Minnesota. And Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said on social media that the Department of Homeland Security had informed her it would end Operation Catch of the Day, an immigration enforcement campaign launched in her state on Jan. 21.
Mr. Homan conditioned the removal of immigration agents on increased cooperation between federal law enforcement and local officials. “The withdrawal of law enforcement here depends on cooperation,” he said. “As we see this cooperation come to fruition, redeployment will take place.”
Why we wrote this
President Donald Trump’s border czar spoke of a “pulldown” of immigration agents in Minnesota, while Maine’s Republican senator said a stepped-up campaign to control the situation there would also end. This represents a notable shift in response to public outrage over the killing of two American citizens by federal agents.
The announcements show a marked shift in tone as the administration seeks to respond to widespread public outrage over the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – in separate incidents by federal immigration personnel during their operations in Minneapolis.
Protests have swept this city and others for weeks. On Monday, it was announced that Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander who led the operation in Minneapolis, would leave the city. Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans have called for the impeachment or firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has been criticized for falsely claiming that Mr. Pretti was “brandishing” a gun as he approached federal agents. Eyewitnesses and videos have disputed this version of events, and a Department of Homeland Security report does not mention Mr. Pretti brandishing a gun.
The remarks of Mr. Homan, who arrived in Minnesota on Monday, were more measured. He said he met with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. He called these meetings with Democratic leaders leading to “meaningful dialogue” and said he intends to continue working with local law enforcement and community leaders.
“We didn’t agree on everything. I didn’t expect to agree on everything,” Mr. Homan said. “At the end of the day, you can’t solve problems if you don’t have discussions. I didn’t come to Minnesota for photo ops or to make headlines. … I came here to look for solutions.”
Still, Mr. Homan has been a vocal critic of “sanctuary cities,” or jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal law enforcement on immigration matters. However, Minnesota state prisons honor Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees, he said. Detainers are non-binding requests from ICE to local law enforcement to detain people arrested on suspicion of violating immigration laws so that ICE can take them into custody. Sanctuary jurisdictions often do not honor them.
Mr. Homan also said Attorney General Ellison has “clarified” that Minnesota county jails “may notify ICE of release dates for criminal risks to public safety so that ICE can take custody of them.” Mr. Ellison’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ICE and other immigration agencies, Mr. Homan said, will conduct “targeted” enforcement operations, primarily targeting people with serious criminal histories. He nevertheless stressed that the agency “is not abandoning the president’s mission to control immigration.”
“I am not here because the federal government has fulfilled its mission perfectly,” he said. “The mission will improve because of the changes we make internally.”
The Trump administration has long maintained that its immigration agents primarily target illegal immigrants with criminal histories. But media reports revealed that more than a third of those arrested by ICE had no criminal history. Amid the crackdown in Maine, residents told the Monitor that some of the arrests there appeared indiscriminate, and local officials argued the same.
In her social media post, Senator Collins stated that “there are currently no large-scale ICE operations underway or planned” in Maine. Ms. Collins had for days been pressuring Secretary Noem to end immigration operations in the state, which ICE said resulted in the arrests of 206 people.
