Trump orders pullback of ICE from Minneapolis, says 'softer touch' needed

By Myles Miller

 

The Department of Homeland Security will immediately pull 700 officers from Minneapolis, a reduction of about a quarter, amid efforts to deescalate tensions after federal agents killed two US citizens. 

 

White House border czar Tom Homan, who President Donald Trump sent to Minneapolis as part of an effort to ease pressure amid local outrage, emphasised a shift to more targeted enforcement after a surge of immigration agents sparked widespread protests. Homan also said cooperation with local authorities to detain immigrants with criminal records had improved. 

 

About 2,000 federal immigration agents will remain, down from the peak of the operation but still much higher than the roughly 150 officers that would be normal, Homan told reporters Wednesday.

 

 

“This is smart law enforcement, not less law enforcement,” Homan said. “It’s safer for the community, safer for the officers and safer for the alien.”

 

Trump, in an interview with NBC News, said he personally made the decision to reduce the operation. 

 

The drawdown marks a partial retreat following a national uproar over tactics in Minnesota after Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents killed two US citizens during enforcement operations. Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse, was fatally shot during a Border Patrol operation in January, weeks after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, a mother of three. 

 

“I’m not happy with what happened there,” Trump told NBC. “Nobody could be happy, and ICE wasn’t happy.”

 

According to a Quinnipiac University poll, 61% of voters think his administration “has not given an honest account” of Pretti’s shooting. Some 63% disapprove of the way ICE is enforcing immigration laws, although views are split along party lines with 77% Republican approval. 

 

The president said that while he always supported law enforcement, the killings should not have happened.

 

“No, it should have not happened,” he said. “It was very sad to me. It was a very sad incident, two incidents.” 

 

Trump added that he learned “maybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch, but you still have to be tough.”

 

He also said he had spoken to podcaster Joe Rogan, who has voiced criticism over the tactics used by federal agents. Trump acknowledged he needed to improve “public relations” around his efforts.

 

Residents monitoring ICE operations continued to share reports of federal agents spotted in the area Wednesday morning, including in neighborhoods and at local businesses. 

 

But Homan said the tactical pivot would reduce the need for large teams of officers on the ground. The government will rely more on taking custody of detainees inside jails rather than making arrests in the community, he said. 

 

With that approach, it requires only one or two agents to assume custody rather than eight or 10 agents on the street, said Homan, who replaced Greg Bovino, the US Border Patrol commander whose tactics fueled the backlash. That frees up personnel for other enforcement priorities.

 

Homan also emphasized that local jails aren’t being asked to hold people beyond their scheduled release times or to carry out immigration enforcement themselves. 

 

“They don’t hold them one minute past they normally would,” he said, adding that state prisons in Minnesota are already cooperating with federal authorities and that DHS plans to expand those arrangements.

 

As part of the overhaul, Customs and Border Protection personnel have been fully integrated into ICE-led operations under a single chain of command, Homan said. In addition, DHS is accelerating the deployment of body-worn cameras in Minneapolis after identifying inconsistent use among agents.

 

“That inconsistency was unacceptable,” Homan said, adding that the move has Trump’s support. “We have nothing to hide.”

 

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the reduction in agents and use of body-worn cameras as a step in the right direction, but slammed the administration’s approach. 

 

“2,000 federal agents isn’t a deescalation,” Frey said in a post on X. “My message to the White House has been consistent - Operation Metro Surge has been catastrophic for our residents and businesses. It needs to end immediately.”