Tom Homan, White House “Border Czar” speaks at a press conference at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building on February 4, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
John Moore | Getty Images
Border czar Tom Homan on Thursday said President Donald Trump has agreed with his proposal to conclude the monthslong federal immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota.
“We’ve seen a big change here in the last couple of weeks,” Homan said at a press conference in Minneapolis. “All good changes.”
Homan said the number of enforcement targets in the Twin Cities region, which has been flooded since December with thousands of officers from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agencies, has been “greatly reduced.”
Homan last week had announced a drawdown of 700 agents from the area encompassing Minneapolis and St. Paul, a roughly 25% pullback that still left about 2,000 officers in place.
The total withdrawal “will continue to the next week,” he said Thursday morning.
Homan added that a “small footprint” of personnel will stay in the area “for a period of time” to transition command back to a local field office, and to ensure “agitator activity” does not flare back up.
The conclusion of “Operation Metro Surge” was announced less than three weeks after Trump deployed Homan to Minnesota to run the sweeping deportation mission, replacing Border Patrol commander at large Gregory Bovino.
That shake-up followed the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, two U.S. citizens who were fatally shot by federal agents in separate altercations in January.
The killings massively inflamed tensions over the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota, spurring widespread protests and rapidly souring public opinion toward ICE.
Homan in Thursday’s presser touted a recent de-escalation in those tensions, crediting improved cooperation between the federal government and state and local leaders since he took over.
“With that, and success that has been made arresting public safety threats and other priorities since this surge operation began, as well as the unprecedented levels of coordination we have obtained from state officials and local law enforcement, I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude,” Homan said.
But he stressed that the Trump administration’s efforts to remove vast numbers of undocumented immigrants will continue.
“For those who say we are backing down from immigration enforcement or the promise of mass deportations, you are simply wrong,” he said.
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