Once one of his most popular agenda items, President Donald Trump is experiencing a drop in approval over his immigration enforcement efforts after weeks of unrest in Minnesota.
Protesters have demonstrated in Minneapolis following the deaths of two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. There was also outrage both in the state and across the country after 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were detained and taken to a facility in Texas. A federal judge ordered their release and they returned to Minnesota on Sunday.
It’s been a tumultuous week for the Trump administration, which has changed its plan for Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in the area, and sought to turn down the temperature in the Twin Cities.
Here’s where things stand in Minnesota and for the president:
Trump approval sags
Since Trump deployed ICE agents to Minnesota in early January, a RealClearPolitics polling average of several nationwide surveys shows that the president’s support has dropped since the beginning of the year.
On Jan. 8, Trump had an average of 52.5% disapproval and 44.3% approval, according to RealClearPolitics. Following weeks of unrest, he has dropped to a new low of 55.3% disapproval and 42.4% approval. It has remained around that level from Jan. 16-Feb.1, as demonstrations and tensions continued after Pretti’s death.
The drop in the president’s approval comes amid lower polling numbers for Trump’s immigration agenda, which he campaigned on and has made a priority since his reelection.
The administration, responding to the dip in approval and the ongoing unrest in Minnesota that has spilled into other states, opted last week to change up their tactics.
Trump last week noted that he still wants to continue immigration operations in the state, but signaled a willingness to turn down the temperature. After talks with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who are both Democrats, the state also appears to be helping more with crowd control.
After Customs and Border Protection agents shot and killed Pretti, it was revealed that some agents, including former CBP Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino would be leaving the state and Trump’s border czar Tom Homan would be heading to Minnesota to work with Walz and Frey.
Homan said late last week that if the state would cooperate with the administration’s requests for information about immigrants in custody, then the “withdrawal of law enforcement” could happen.
He confirmed that after talking with local leaders and law enforcement that a plan was in the works to reduce the number of federal agents in the state and it was his “main focus.”
“I have staff from (Customs and Border Protection) and from (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) working on a drawdown plan. What does that look like, based on cooperation. What does that look like based on the targets we have left to find,” he said.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday that she spoke with Homan and other DHS leaders and decided that effective immediately, all federal agents in the field in Minneapolis will be wearing body cameras.
“As funding is available, the body camera program will be expanded nationwide. We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country,” Noem said in a post online.
She said it shows the Trump administration is the “most transparent administration in American history.”
Texas Democrat helps 5-year-old detainee
Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, were detained in a suburb of Minneapolis on Jan. 20. They were taken to a detention facility in Dilley, Texas.
The boy’s detention sparked angry reaction as people saw video of agents loading the young child, wearing a blue bunny hat and a Spider-Man backpack, into a car.
But the Department of Homeland Security said that his father fled the scene on foot and left the boy alone, requiring the agents to take care of him for several hours, even taking him to get food in a drive-thru.
Liam’s father is originally from Ecuador and the boy’s neighbors and school officials said federal agents were using him as “bait” to get his mother to come outside.
The administration said the boy’s father entered the country illegally in 2024, but a lawyer for the family said he had a pending asylum case, which allowed him to remain in the country.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, who is based out of San Antonio and was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, said the case was “ill-conceived” and based around the administration looking to meet a quota of deportations and detentions. He first ordered that the boy and his father could not be removed from the United States but later ordered for their release from the Texas detention center, The Associated Press reported over the weekend.
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, went to the facility to meet with the father and son and on Sunday shared that they were released from the Dilley detention center.
“I picked them up last night and escorted them back to Minnesota this morning,” he said. “Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack.”
“Thank you to everyone who demanded freedom for Liam. We won’t stop until all children and families are home,” Castro’s post said, which included photos.
Castro shared that he wrote Liam a letter that said his family, school and so many strangers across the country demanded his release. “Don’t let anyone tell you this isn’t your home,” he said, noting that the United States became powerful and prosperous because of immigrants, “not in spite of them.”
Locals gathered outside of Liam’s home to celebrate his release and demand the release of others who have been detained. The Columbia Heights Public Schools said in a statement that the boy’s release was an important development, but there were four other students held at the same Texas facility they were hopeful would be released as well, the AP reported.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a response to Castro’s post that the facts in the case “have not changed” despite the judge’s “absurdly lawless order.” She argued that Liam’s father made the choice to take the boy with him to the detention center and the “alleged mother refused to accept custody of the child.”
“Parents who are in the country illegally should take control of their departure and receive a free flight and $2,600 with the (Customs and Border Protection) Home app. By using the CBP Home app illegal aliens reserve the chance to come back the right way,” she said.