Tom Homan, White Home border czar, speaks at a press convention on the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Constructing on February 12, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Photograph: Stephen Maturen/Getty Photos
On Thursday, border czar Tom Homan introduced the tip of Operation Metro Surge, the federal operation that introduced hundreds of immigration officers into Minnesota and which resulted in widespread claims of brutal ways and the deaths of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal brokers.
At a press convention, Homan touted the success of the operation, asserting that the Trump administration had seen an “unprecedented stage of coordination with legislation enforcement officers” on the bottom and claiming that federal authorities had made greater than 4,000 arrests of murderers, intercourse offenders, and different violent criminals. Earlier this month, Homan directed the withdrawal of 700 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Safety brokers.
“A big drawdown has already been underway this week and can proceed by way of the following week,” he mentioned.
In response to Homan, a “small footprint of personnel” will stay on the bottom in Minnesota to assist transition operations again to the native ICE subject workplace and monitor “agitator exercise.” He mentioned officers which can be a part of the drawdown will return to their house workplace or be reassigned to assist additional President Donald Trump’s immigration goals, although he didn’t present a selected timetable for the withdrawal. Federal authorities concerned with the prosecutions of ICE protesters in addition to the federal government’s ongoing investigation into alleged fraud inside Minnesota’s social-services applications will “stay in place till their work is finished.”
“I may even stay on the bottom for somewhat longer to supervise the drawdown of this operation and guarantee its success,” Homan mentioned.
Whereas the monthslong operation was confronted with sturdy native opposition and allegations of aggressive ways by ICE brokers in opposition to residents no matter immigration standing, Homan denounced what he referred to as “unfounded complaints” in opposition to the company, claiming officers by no means made arrests in church buildings or hospitals — whereas claiming such actions could be warranted in the event that they did.
“Nevertheless, these areas are usually not off the desk. I mentioned on day one, there’s no sanctuary for a major public security menace or nationwide safety menace. However so far as these tales about ICE going into church buildings or arresting individuals in hospitals, it merely has not occurred,” Homan mentioned.
He continued, “ICE is a official federal law-enforcement company. We’re not out scouring the streets to vanish individuals or deny individuals their civil proper to due course of.”
Minnesota governor Tim Walz addressed Homan’s announcement at a press briefing Wednesday, saying that he was “cautiously optimistic” concerning the authorities’s claims. However he was blunt concerning the influence of the Trump administration’s operation within the state, saying Minnesotans had been the goal of an “unprecedented federal invasion in all facets of life.”
“However the reality of the matter is that they left us with deep harm, generational trauma. They left us with financial smash in some circumstances. They left us with many unanswered questions,” Walz mentioned. “The place are our kids? The place and what’s the technique of the investigations into people who had been liable for the deaths of Renee and Alex? So, whereas the federal authorities might transfer on to no matter subsequent factor they need to do, the state of Minnesota and our administration is unwaveringly targeted on the restoration of what they did.”
Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, whose metropolis confronted the brunt of the federal authorities’s ire, issued an announcement praising his constituents for his or her resiliency, saying the enforcement surge has been “catastrophic for our neighbors and companies.”
“They thought they might break us, however a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation,” Frey mentioned.
However Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota congresswoman whose district encompasses Minneapolis, mentioned placing an finish to Operation Metro Surge is “not sufficient.”
“We’d like justice and accountability. That begins with unbiased investigations into the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, financial restitution for companies impacted, abolishing ICE, and the impeachment of Kristi Noem,” she mentioned in a assertion.
