President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan arrived in Minnesota after weeks of unrest in the state over the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.
Homan’s arrival in Minneapolis signals a willingness from Trump to change course on how federal officials are interacting with city and state officials after violent clashes in the city and the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Leadership change-up in Minnesota
While Trump has said he wants to continue Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota, he’s signaled a willingness to try to work more closely with state leaders like Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
After speaking with Walz on Monday morning following a weekend of protest after Pretti and Good’s deaths, Trump said he would be sending Homan to Minnesota.
It also was revealed that Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino and some of his agents would be leaving the state after Customs and Border Patrol agents shot and killed Pretti over the weekend.
Bovino, even before Pretti’s death, was facing increasing criticism over his role in the enforcement efforts in the state. Following Pretti’s death, he faced backlash after he argued that the 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse’s death was justified and the agents were victims in the situation.
Under Bovino’s leadership, Border Patrol agents have been deployed to Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities. He is reportedly returning to El Centro, California, and there are conflicting reports about whether Bovino’s relocation is a demotion or not and what his new role will be.
While Bovino is leaving the state, Homan is set to take over the administration’s enforcement. Trump told Walz that Homan would be reporting to the president and that he would be on the lookout for “any and all criminals” that the state has “in their possession.”
On Wednesday, several media reports noted that the two federal agents involved in Pretti’s death were placed on leave. The two agents who fired shots at Pretti have been on leave since the shooting, but it was unclear if action had been taken against the other officers who were attempting to restrain him, the New York Times reported.
What changes is Homan expected to make?
With Homan on the ground in Minnesota for less than 48 hours, it’s already being viewed as a partial de-escalation from the federal government in the state.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Homan arrived in Minnesota with a list of demands, including an agreement from Walz and Frey to turn over more immigrants currently in the state’s prisons and jails. It’s something the state was refusing to do following a meeting between Frey, Walz and Homan on Tuesday.
Frey said he told Homan that he would not be enforcing federal immigration laws.
Under the Constitution, the federal government can’t force state or local governments to use their local resources like law enforcement or jails to carry out federal programs like immigration enforcement. It’s become a point of contention for the Trump administration as it seeks to target “sanctuary cities,” over their refusal to turn over immigrants who are arrested to ICE.
Trump said in a post online that Frey is refusing to enforce federal immigration laws. He said it was after the two elected leaders had a “very good conversation.”
“Could somebody in his inner sanctum please explain that this statement is a very serious violation of the Law, and that he is PLAYING WITH FIRE!” Trump said.
Frey replied in his own post online and said the job of the city’s police is to keep people safe, not enforce federal immigration laws.
“I want them preventing homicides, not hunting down a working dad who contributes to (Minneapolis) & is from Ecuador. It’s similar to the policy your guy Rudy had in NYC,” Frey said, referring to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to protect immigrants living in the country illegally. “Everyone should feel safe calling 911.”
Trump’s tone change on Wednesday comes after he said that he thought the meetings between Walz, Frey and Homan on Tuesday were “going very well.”
That certainly is the hope of many Republicans, who have been caught in the middle following Pretti’s death.
“Tom Homan’s arrival in Minnesota is an opportunity for a reset through the collaboration that President Donald Trump has been pushing for between the federal government and state/local law enforcement,” Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, a Republican who is running for governor, said online.
Homan’s challenge in the next few days will be to successfully negotiate with state and local leaders who want the federal agents to be removed from Minnesota, but also appeal to Trump, who wants to continue operations.
Trump told ABC News’ Rachel Scott on Tuesday evening that Homan being deployed to Minnesota could provide a more “relaxed” approach.
“We’ve taken out the largest part of the bad, really bad people. So very, very bad and dangerous people. We’ve taken out a large portion of them so we can start doing maybe a little bit more relaxed, because we know, and we know where a lot of them are,” he said, noting that he was asking for Walz’s help to “hand over the criminals” to make the job “much easier and faster.”
Trump also shared that while other cities could be targeted next, he believes that the federal agents can “finish the job” in Minnesota in a “de-escalated” manner.