Border czar Tom Homan Thursday declared an end to President Trump’s tumultuous Minneapolis immigration crackdown and claimed victory despite the killings of two U.S. citizens by immigration agents in recent weeks.
The tough-talking immigration boss called the unpopular operation a “great success” after arresting at least 4,000 undocumented immigrants and lowering the temperature with local law enforcement.
“We’ve had great success and we’re leaving Minnesota safer,” Homan said.
Homan said Trump approved the total drawdown of about remaining 2,000 Immigration Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol officers from the flashpoint city. Control of deportation operations will be turned back over to a local field office.
“Operation Metro Surge is ending,” Homan said. “We’re going to continue to enforce immigration law. But we have to prioritize the criminals.”
Nearly 3,000 agents flooded into Minnesota in January on Trump’s orders, sparking widespread disruption and fierce opposition from opponents of his mass deportation push in the heavily Democratic city.
With few legal guardrails, masked agents aggressively hunted down undocumented immigrant and took on demonstrators in Minneapolis who followed ICE agents and documented what they called abuses.
An ICE officer shot and killed unarmed motorist Renee Good on Jan. 7. Two Border Patrol agents killed protester Alex Pretti on Jan. 30 after he tried to protect a fellow protester.
Federal officials backed the agents who carried out the killings, branded the victims as “domestic terrorists” and have so far refused to mount any independent investigation of either killings.
The “mission accomplished” press conference by Homan comes as Democratic congressional leaders threaten to withhold support for a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security unless Trump and Republicans agree to rein in the mass deportation operation.
The standoff could result in a partial government shutdown if a deal is not reached by Friday.
