Border Czar Announces ICE Drawdown, Keeps Small Security Force
Tom Homan said over 1,000 agents left Minneapolis–St. Paul after Operation Metro Surge and that a small security force will remain briefly to protect agents.
Overview
Tom Homan said more than 1,000 immigration agents have left the Minneapolis–St. Paul area and that several hundred more will depart in the days ahead as part of a drawdown.
Operation Metro Surge began on December 4, was the largest Department of Homeland Security enforcement operation and produced more than 4,000 arrests amid growing protests.
Governor Tim Walz called the crackdown "an unnecessary, unwarranted and in many cases unconstitutional assault on our state," and activists have demanded accountability.
Homan said 700 officers were withdrawn earlier, leaving more than 2,000 in the state, while state records showed about 380 noncitizens in state prisons with roughly 270 ICE detainers and DHS cited 1,360 detainers.
Homan said the drawdown is ongoing and will continue into the next week, that a "small" security force will remain briefly to protect agents, and that mass deportations will continue nationwide.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the drawdown as evidence of federal overreach and volatility, using loaded terms ('surge', 'histrionic thuggery'), foregrounding protester/community grief and critical experts, and juxtaposing terse official statements with detailed accounts of deaths and disruption. Editorial selection and placement steer readers toward moral and political condemnation rather than neutral distance.
Sources (19)
FAQ
Operation Metro Surge was the largest Department of Homeland Security enforcement operation launched on December 4, resulting in over 4,000 arrests of criminal illegal aliens in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area amid protests.
Tom Homan announced the drawdown of over 1,000 agents after achieving more than 4,000 arrests, with a small security force remaining briefly to protect agents, contingent on the end of threats against ICE.
Renée Good and Alex Pretti were U.S. citizens killed by federal agents during protests against Operation Metro Surge; Good was reportedly shot for trying to run over an agent with her car, and Pretti was a nurse shot by Border Patrol.
Governor Tim Walz called it an unconstitutional assault; protests, a general strike endorsed by unions and city council, school closures, and economic disruptions occurred, with demands for accountability.
Tom Homan stated that mass deportations will continue nationwide, emphasizing that illegal immigrants found will be deported, regardless of the Minnesota surge's end.
History
15 sources