Trump administration removes 700 agents from Minnesota, eyes end of Operation Metro Surge

Jeff Day, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Feb 4, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — White House border czar Tom Homan said Wednesday that effective immediately the federal government is withdrawing 700 federal law enforcement personnel from Minnesota.

That will leave the number of agents in the state at approximately 2,000, he said — still a far cry from the 150 agents that are permanently stationed in Minnesota to carry out immigration enforcement.

Homan said his goal is to reduce the footprint back to that 150 number and said it will happen once residents of Minnesota stop “impeding” Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents from doing their job.

“Protest, but stop impeding,” Homan said. “Because we will arrest you.”

Homan said the reduction comes in the wake of “significant progress” in cooperation between state and federal officials — including an “unprecedented” number of counties that are cooperating with the federal government to coordinate the transfer of immigration targets to federal officers from county jails.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reported on Feb. 3 that Homan and James Stuart, the executive director of the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association, have been negotiating a deal for county jails to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

Homan said that the “goal is to achieve a complete drawdown and end this surge, as soon as we can.”

He said that conversations with officials ranging from Gov. Tim Walz to county sheriffs around the state have left him “amazed at the cooperation and agreements we have already talked about and the willingness to work with us.” But he added that drawdown will be tied to an end to civil disruption and “hostile incidents” involving anti-ICE activists. Homan pointed to roadblocks that were constructed this week in Minneapolis as part of the problem.

“You’re not going to stop ICE, you’re not going to stop Border Patrol,” Homan said. “The only thing you’re doing is irritating your community.”

Homan drew a difference between the right to protest and interfering with law enforcement — which he said has led to 158 detainments and several prosecutions.

Homan said the “target list” of illegal immigrants is also falling and said that, along with greater cooperation in the county jails, led to the initial reduction of agents and additional cooperation will lead to further reductions.

“We want to get back to the normal operational footprint,” Homan said.

When asked if he felt that Operation Metro Surge had been a success, Homan pointed to a number of detainments of immigrants who he said had been convicted of serious criminal offenses such as homicide and sexual assault.

“I think I just listed a bunch of people we took off the streets of the Twin Cities,” Homan said. “I think it is very effective … was it a perfect operation? No. No."

Homan pointed to the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents and said that no one in the federal government, including him, President Donald Trump and Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, wanted to see bloodshed in American streets.

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