Tom Homan states that Trump’s immigration effort in Minnesota has ended

Tom Homan, referred to as the “border czar” by President Donald Trump, revealed Thursday that the harsh anti-immigration operation initiated in early December in Minnesota by The White House “has concluded.” “I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude,” Homan said during a press briefing in Minneapolis early that morning. The Trump administration directed the withdrawal of 700 federal agents from The Democratic city last week, and Homan stated “a significant drawdown” of staff would persist into the coming week.

For over two months—72 days, precisely—a group of up to 3,000 federal agents, including personnel from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol, have been stationed in the city and state, both led by Democrats.

During this period, Trump’s immigration enforcement team has conducted unlawful detentions, apprehended children like five-year-old Ecuadorian Liam Conejo Ramos, and federal agents have killed two U.S. Citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Homan referenced “unprecedented levels of coordination” since taking over command on the ground. He stepped in as the successor to Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol chief who had been the public face of the operation until the backlash over Pretti’s death compelled the U.S. President to remove him.

Cooperation

In his speech, Homan attempted to portray the deployment as a “success,” and asserted that local and state officials had finally cooperated after weeks of refusal. Yet it is obvious to all that the White House is backing down following its defeat in the court of public opinion. Homan offered no specifics regarding this alleged collaboration, and it is clear that community pushback—particularly in Minneapolis—has pressured U.S. Immigration authorities, who are determined to deliver on Trump’s campaign pledge to initiate “the largest deportation in history.”

The border czar said Thursday that “Minnesota is now less of a sanctuary state for criminals” and mentioned “some 4,000 arrests” carried out over the past 72 days, though he provided no specifics on how many of those arrests involved individuals with criminal histories. The Trump administration pledged that this operation would center on “the worst of the worst” (undocumented immigrants convicted of rape or murder), but the data contradicts the assertion that these were the sole targets of immigration enforcement in Minnesota.

The announcement of the withdrawal arrives as both sides negotiate a funding package for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Congress. Without a deal to restrict ICE’s authority, it could trigger a partial government shutdown—the second in two weeks—following the last one, which was technical and settled within days.

Since Operation Metro Surge began, residents throughout the state have mobilized to resist what they viewed as an occupation, especially since the 3,000 agents dispatched by Trump outnumber the Minneapolis police force.

They created encrypted chat groups on Signal, sharing updates about ICE agents seen moving in masks, heavily armed and riding in unmarked vehicles. Upon learning of an active operation, they would rush to the site to document it and interrupt it with the sharp blasts of their whistles—now a defining emblem of resistance in recent weeks. It was during two of these confrontations that agents fatally shot Pretti, an ICU nurse at a Minneapolis veterans’ hospital, and Good, a poet and mother of three. Both were 37 years old.

Neither of these two deaths resulted in the arrest of those responsible. In both instances, the Trump administration supported the officers by depicting the victims as “domestic terrorists.”

The Minneapolis City Council reacted to Homan’s announcement with “cautious optimism.” “They thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation,” Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement sent to the media. “These patriots of Minneapolis are showing that it’s not just about resistance — standing with our neighbors is deeply American. This operation has been catastrophic for our businesses, and now is the time for a major recovery. We will demonstrate the same commitment to our immigrant residents and the same perseverance in this reopening, and I hope that the entire country will support us so that we can move forward together.”

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