The US is planning to draw down federal forces in Minneapolis after the fatal shootings of two US citizens there, but it is not ending its immigration operation, Tom Homan, the White House's border tsar, said on Thursday. The draw down is going to happen, Homan said at a press conference in Minneapolis, but added: We are not surrendering our mission at all. We're just doing it smarter. It was not clear how many federal forces might leave the city or when, raising new questions about how far the Trump administration will scale back its operation after the president said he was seeking to de-escalate in Minneapolis.
The killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by agents carrying out Trump's immigration crackdown this month have provoked protests in Minneapolis, public outcry across the US, and calls from lawmakers in both parties for some administration officials to be removed. Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have called for a withdrawal of federal agents entirely from the state's capital region. The state has also asked a federal judge to stop Operation Metro Surge, which involves approximately 3,000 immigration, border patrol, and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers. Homan on Thursday said changes in the operation would depend on how much state and local officials cooperate with federal authorities.
In the hours after Pretti was killed, Walz spoke with the White House twice. Homan also defended the administration's immigration enforcement measures, asserting that tightening border security and targeting undocumented immigrants for deportation had made the country safer.
The killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by agents carrying out Trump's immigration crackdown this month have provoked protests in Minneapolis, public outcry across the US, and calls from lawmakers in both parties for some administration officials to be removed. Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have called for a withdrawal of federal agents entirely from the state's capital region. The state has also asked a federal judge to stop Operation Metro Surge, which involves approximately 3,000 immigration, border patrol, and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers. Homan on Thursday said changes in the operation would depend on how much state and local officials cooperate with federal authorities.
In the hours after Pretti was killed, Walz spoke with the White House twice. Homan also defended the administration's immigration enforcement measures, asserting that tightening border security and targeting undocumented immigrants for deportation had made the country safer.
