Trump admin to withdraw 700 federal officers from Minnesota: Homan

The Trump administration will withdraw 700 federal law enforcement agents from Minnesota “effective immediately,” White House border official Tom Homan said Wednesday.

After the partial withdrawal, about 2,000 federal agents will remain in the state — a reduction of about 25 percent — with most concentrated in the Twin Cities region encompassing Minneapolis and St. Paul, Homan said at a news conference in Minneapolis.

Homan announced the withdrawal after touting what he called “unprecedented cooperation” between the federal government and state and local entities. This cooperation increases efficiency, requiring fewer agents to be sent into communities “to assume custody of a foreign criminal target” and freeing up resources, Homan said.

“More police officers dealing with criminal aliens directly from prisons means fewer police officers on the street conducting criminal operations,” he said. “This is smart law enforcement, not less law enforcement.”

He repeatedly insisted that the administration “would not go” to Minneapolis, which has become a hotbed of civil unrest due to the administration’s aggressive deportation tactics.

A “complete withdrawal” from the region will depend on continued cooperation from state and local agencies, as well as “a reduction in violence, rhetoric and attacks against [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] and Border Patrol,” Homan said.

The Senate’s top Democrat said the announced cut was insufficient.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Homan’s partial removal “like a drop in the bucket for the people of Minneapolis.”

It’s “not enough,” Schumer said on the Senate floor after Homan’s comments. “They all have to leave now.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to CNBC that “an unprecedented number of Minnesota counties” have agreed to work with Homan to “coordinate with ICE to transfer custody of criminal aliens upon their release.”

These local government commitments “will continue to be monitored for compliance,” Leavitt said.

Tensions between immigration enforcement and protesters exploded after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, in separate altercations in January.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem initially rushed to defend the killings while accusing Good and Pretti of domestic terrorism.

But as public opinion rapidly deteriorated about ICE, the administration modulated its tone on the deaths, and President Donald Trump sent Homan to Minnesota to manage field operations, replacing Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol’s commanding general.

In an interview with NBC News later Wednesday, Trump said, “I heard that maybe we could take a little bit of a gentler approach” to immigration.

“We are not abandoning the president’s mission for a mass deportation operation,” Homan told reporters. “If you’re in the country illegally, if we find you, we will deport you. But this is a targeted enforcement operation, and that’s what we’re going to do.”