US Government to Reduce Immigration Enforcement in Minnesota

After more than a month of civil unrest over illegal immigration enforcement, Minnesota has reached a boiling point with the death of a second protester, leading the White House to prepare a plan to withdraw some federal forces from the state.

White House Border Czar Tom Homan addressed the public on Jan. 29, after being sent there days prior by President Donald Trump to offer a solution.

“We’ve got to stop the rhetoric,” Homan said.

Homan has offered increased cooperation between immigration enforcement agents and state and city governments, which would reduce the number of agents on the streets and focus on targeted operations in prisons. Currently, Homan said there are close to 3,000 agents operating in the state.

“We are not surrendering our mission at all, we’re just doing it smarter,” Homan said.

Operation Metro Surge was the name of the immigration enforcement initiative that led to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents heading to the streets of Minnesota in December 2025, bringing the worst of the worst illegal immigrant criminals to justice.

ICE presence was met with increasing hostility from local politicians and anti-ICE protesters, as well as scrutiny from Democrats in Congress, throughout the duration of the operation, which led to the death of two protestors.

Democrats have refused to support the annual government spending bill unless restrictions are placed on ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, as the government narrowly heads toward a shutdown.

Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was fatally shot during an altercation on Jan. 24, when ICE officers were conducting an arrest of an illegal immigrant.

Some of the controversy surrounds the fact that Pretti was carrying a gun at the time, but investigations since show that he had a legal carry permit, which allowed him to do so.

Minnesota gun laws allow you to carry a gun, concealed or openly, including at a protest, if you have a permit, which you must carry with you.

Another shooting occurred at the beginning of the year when an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, who was obstructing the road in an SUV. When agents approached her and asked her to exit the vehicle, she drove through them, prompting the use of lethal force, according to agents.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defended the officer’s response, saying that Good had “been stalking and impeding their work all throughout the day,” alongside a “mob of agitators.”

Noem said at the time there had been 100 vehicle rammings in the previous weeks, and the officer in question had been the victim of a similar incident.

Immigration enforcement had been a focus of Trump’s political campaign when he promised to solve the problem of a large number of illegal immigrants who had illegally entered the country, especially during the previous administration.

The number of border encounters peaked at over 370,000 in December 2023, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

As of 2023, there were 14 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States, meaning those without legal status, according to the Pew Research Center.

Trump issued 181 immigration-related executive actions within his first 100 days in office to curb illegal immigration, which he declared a crisis.

A Department of Homeland Security report in December marked border crossings as being down 93 percent year over year.

The Department of Justice considers Minnesota a sanctuary state, according to an August 2025 press statement. It shields illegal immigrants by restricting local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

Emel Akan contributed to this report.