Homan Announces Drawdown of 700 Federal Agents in Minnesota

White House border czar Tom Homan said on Feb. 4 that the Trump administration will immediately draw down 700 immigration agents from Minnesota.

The reduction was made possible because of the “unprecedented cooperation” with local counties on honoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers on illegal immigrant prisoners, Homan said at a press conference in Minneapolis. ICE detainers ask jails to notify federal authorities before an illegal immigrant prisoner is to be released, so federal agents can detain them for removal.

“This is smarter enforcement, not less,” Homan said.

The move comes amid heightened scrutiny of federal immigration operations after the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Homan said the administration is not drawing down on personnel providing security for the officers.

The Trump administration’s goal is to end the surge of federal agents in the city, Homan said. But that will depend on continued cooperation with local authorities and a decrease in attacks and hateful rhetoric against ICE and border patrol agents.

In Minneapolis, federal law enforcement has arrested 14 people who had homicide convictions, 87 people with sex-related offenses, 28 gang members, and 139 people who had assault convictions, he said.

The border czar called on people to stop impeding law enforcement operations.

“Everyone has a constitutional right to peacefully protest. President Trump and I, we completely support that,” he said. “At the same time, professional law enforcement officers should and need to be able to perform their sworn duties without being harassed, impeded, or assaulted.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey wrote on X that Homan’s announcement was “a step in the right direction.”

Homan’s remarks come as federal agents will be required to wear body cameras.

“Effective immediately we are deploying body cameras to every officer in the field in Minneapolis,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on X. “As funding is available, the body camera program will be expanded nationwide. We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to [Department of Homeland Security] law enforcement across the country.”

Previously, federal agents did not have to wear body cameras. Democrats have criticized the shootings, while federal officials have justified them. Some Republicans have called for an investigation into the incidents.

Senate Democrats want conditions for immigration agents on the ground as part of a full-year appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security.

Listing out the demands on Jan. 28, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said one includes “an end to roving patrols” of ICE agents in U.S. cities, tighter restrictions on warrants, and coordination between federal agents and state and local law enforcement.

The second calls for greater accountability for ICE agents.

“Federal agents should be held to the same use-of-force policies that apply to state and local law enforcement and be held accountable when they violate those rules,” Schumer said.

The third is for ICE and other immigration agents to operate maskless, wear body cameras, and carry state-issued identification at all times.

A federal judge on Jan. 31 denied Minnesota’s request for immigration agents to leave Minneapolis in what has been known as Operation Metro Surge.

In her ruling on Jan. 31, U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez wrote that the “court must view Plaintiffs’ claims through the lens of the specific legal framework they invoke, and, having done so, finds that Plaintiffs have not met their burden … the motion is denied.”