Border czar signals federal surge could ease if Minnesota grants ICE jail access

MINNEAPOLIS (CN) — White House border czar Tom Homan indicated on Thursday there are plans to potentially draw down the scale of the ongoing federal enforcement surge in the Twin Cities.

Homan suggested in a news conference that gaining federal access to state jails would reduce the need for agents on the street. Homan, a hardline veteran of the first Trump administration, was deployed to Minnesota Monday to take command of “Operation Metro Surge,” an immigration crackdown that has brought national attention to the state.

“I’m not here because the federal government has carried out this mission perfectly,” Homan said at the news conference. “We are not surrendering out mission at all, we’re just doing it smarter.”

Homan said he spoke with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey about allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers access to jails. He said picking up people being released from local custody would be safer for officers, the community and the person being investigated.

Homan intimated that such an agreement would allow agents to carry out more focused, targeted enforcement operations and reduce the need for a mass of ICE agents performing street-level operations in high-pressure environments. He added that a single ICE agent in a jail could arrest multiple people at a time.

“Based on discussions I’ve had with the governor and the attorney general, we can start drawing down those resources … and do it in the jail with much less people,” Homan said. “The drawdown is going to happen based on these agreements.”

While he said ICE will prioritize violent offenders in the country illegally, Homan clarified that anyone in the country without legal status, even if they haven’t committed a crime, could still be targeted.

The border czar’s arrival marks a leadership shakeup in the operation. He replaces U.S. Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, who was reassigned following weeks of mass protests and a series of fatal encounters involving federal agents.

Homan said ICE and Border Patrol agents are performing their duties in a challenging environment, but that agents who do not meet the standards of conduct will be “dealt with.”

Choosing not to comment on the federal officer-involved fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti on Saturday, Homan expressed a desire for the investigation to play out, but attributed some of the ongoing violence in the state to hateful rhetoric and attacks on ICE officers.

“I said in March if the rhetoric didn’t stop, there’s going to be bloodshed, and there has been,” he said, encouraging those who don’t agree with what ICE is doing to “take it up with Congress.”

Homan said there are plans to reduce the scale of the operation depending on the extent of Minnesota’s cooperation — suggesting an intent to return to targeted operations, saying Homeland Security had strayed from that focus.

“The withdrawal of law enforcement resources here is dependent upon cooperation,” Homan said. “As we see that cooperation happen, then the redeployment will happen.”

Such potential cooperation comes at a time of deep mistrust between federal and local authorities, as Walz and Frey have both called for a swift reduction in federal forces, and an end to what Walz described as a campaign of retribution against the state.

Frey has reiterated that Minneapolis will not enforce federal immigration laws, emphasizing that public safety is built on community trust, not fear.

The judiciary has also begun to check the administration’s reach. Minnesota’s chief federal judge recently rebuked the agency, noting ICE has violated nearly 100 court orders in January alone. Alongside that order there are multiple pending lawsuits against the administration over the mistreatment of citizens and protesters, andthe restriction of detainees’ constitutional rights.

Despite these hurdles, Homan expressed a desire to fix the turmoil in Minneapolis, vowing to stay “until the problem is gone.”