By Jack Phillips
White House border czar Tom Homan said a small security force will remain in Minneapolis in the coming days after he announced a pullback of federal immigration agents from the city.
A “small force, a security force” will stay for a short period of time to protect remaining Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and will respond “when our agents are out, and they get surrounded by agitators and things get out of control,” Homan told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Feb. 15.
Homan added that agents will keep investigating allegations of fraud in the state and a protest against ICE that disrupted a church service last month. Over the past several years, dozens of people in the Minneapolis area, mostly of Somali descent, have been charged and convicted of entitlement fraud, which became a focal point for President Donald Trump and administration officials before sending in agents to the city in December.
“We already removed well over 1,000 people, and as of Monday, Tuesday, we’ll remove several hundred more,” Homan told the news outlet.
Several thousand ICE, Border Patrol, and other federal officers were sent to the Minneapolis and St. Paul area for immigration-related enforcement measures and a crackdown on fraud, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Department of Homeland Security described “Operation Metro Surge” as its largest immigration enforcement operation ever and said it was successful.
The operation came under heavy criticism and national debate after two U.S. citizens were shot in the midst of protests. The debate spilled into Congress this month when lawmakers from the Democratic Party said they would not fund ICE or Border Patrol, leading to a partial shutdown.
During a Feb. 12 news conference, Homan announced a “significant drawdown” was already underway in the city and would continue through this week.
He added that enforcement would not stop in the Twin Cities and that mass deportations would continue across the country. Officers leaving Minnesota will report back to their stations or be assigned elsewhere, Homan added.
When asked if future deployments could match the scale of the Twin Cities operation this year, Homan told CBS that “it depends on the situation.”
“We need to flood the zone in sanctuary cities with additional agents,” he said. “The number of agents depend on the situation on the ground. How many known criminal targets are out there? Because we know we have a problem with sanctuary cities, because we know they’re releasing public safety threats in the public so rather than arrest that one criminal.”
He then added that he hopes “other sanctuary cities look at … what happened in Minnesota.”
Lawmakers and the White House offered no signs of compromise over the weekend and on President’s Day in the clash over oversight of federal immigration officers, which has led to a pause in DHS funding. A partial government shutdown began Feb. 14 after congressional Democrats and the Trump administration failed to reach a deal on legislation to fund the department through September.
In a Feb. 14 interview with CNN, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that he wants a measure that would force ICE agents to be unmasked during operations. DHS officials and Homan have said that masks are needed because agents are being targeted and doxed by activists.
“These are commonsense proposals,” Schumer said. “They’re supported by the American people. Why won’t Republicans go for them? They don’t give any good answers. It’s something that every police department does across the country. But ICE is rogue, out of control.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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FBI Announces $100,000 Reward After Government Vehicles Broken Into in Minneapolis
Federal Agents Arrest Suspect in Anti-ICE Church Protest in Minnesota
Appeals Court Pauses Order Limiting Immigration Agent Action Against Minnesota Protesters
