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U.S. border czar Tom Homan, newly installed as commander of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis, promised targeted and strategic enforcements focusing on unauthorized residents with a criminal history.
Following weeks of daily clashes between protesters and immigration agents, and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens so far this month during such confrontations, senior Trump administration officials seemed to be recalibrating their approach in Minnesota.
But while Homan made mention of a potential “drawdown of the number of people here,” there were no specific announcements on that front on Wednesday.
“I do not want to hear that everything that’s been done here has been perfect. Nothing’s ever perfect,” he said.
Homan’s comments on the focus of the deportation efforts seemed to hew closely to a newly issued internal memo from a high-ranking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official reviewed by Reuters late on Wednesday. It directs federal officers to refrain from any unnecessary communication and engagement with “agitators” so as to avoid “inflaming the situation.”
ICE officers have been accused of randomly stopping people on the street to demand documented proof of legal U.S. residence or citizenship, and engaging with protesters.
Homan, who arrived on Monday, said “great conversations” took place with the state and local officials he met, saying that while differences in opinion remained, all agreed that “community safety is paramount.”
“You can’t fix problems if you don’t have discussions,” he said.
Trump continues inflammatory comments
Despite Homan’s comments, Trump in a social media post late on Wednesday warned that Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat, was “playing with fire” by continuing to insist that city authorities would play no role in enforcing federal immigration laws.
On Wednesday, Trump also baselessly suggested that Ilhan Omar, a Congress member from Minnesota, staged an attack on her the previous night when she held a town hall meeting amid the tensions.
“She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her,” he told ABC News.
With tensions over ICE’s aggressive immigration crackdown rising daily, members of Minnesota’s Somali community are concerned for their safety after a man lunged at Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, a Somali-American, during a town hall. U.S. President Trump has publicly called Omar, and the state’s Somali community, ‘garbage.’
Social media posts from the man arrested for spraying Omar with liquid from a syringe suggest he was a Trump supporter who had made racially charged posts in the past.
The U.S. Justice Department charged a man Thursday in connection to the incident. Anthony Kazmierczak faces a charge of forcibly assaulting, opposing, impeding and intimidating Omar, according to a complaint filed in federal court.
Authorities determined that the substance was water and apple cider vinegar, according to an affidavit.
ICE regularly defying court orders, chief judge says
Minnesota’s Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have been in a state of upheaval since Trump ordered some 3,000 heavily armed ICE and Border Patrol agents to the area weeks ago to conduct a deportation drive dubbed Operation Metro Surge.
Tensions escalated after Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot dead behind the wheel of her car by an ICE agent on Jan. 7. Public outrage deepened after Saturday’s fatal shooting of an intensive care nurse, Alex Pretti, also 37, during another encounter between immigration agents and activists who confronted them.
Minneapolis police also said the operation was threatening safety and taxing resources. Police Chief Brian O’Hara contrasted the two fatal shootings with his own deparement’s record, telling CBS the police force had not shot anyone in 2025.
On Tuesday, Trump had said he was looking to “de-escalate a little bit” and dispatched Homan to take over the operation from Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol official whose aggressive tactics drew widespread criticism and legal challenges.
Judges have also expressed concerns related to the immigration blitz. In a Wednesday order, Chief U.S. district judge Patrick Schiltz of Minnesota cited at least 96 federal court orders he said ICE has violated in 74 cases, what he considered likely an undercount.
“This list should give pause to anyone — no matter his or her political beliefs — who cares about the rule of law,” Schiltz wrote in his ruling.” The Minnesota federal judge cancelled a contempt of court hearing for the acting head of ICE after the agency complied with an order to release a wrongly detained Ecuadorean man, but warned he could hold ICE leaders in contempt if it continued to flout court orders.
In a separate matter, another judge said she was concerned over a letter from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi that appeared to suggest the administration would pull back from Minnesota operations if the state handed over voter and welfare roll data.
As It Happens6:49Minnesota’s attorney general says he fears for his wife, neighbours
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison accused the Trump administration of “extortion” for demanding the state hand over voter data as it continues its deadly immigration enforcement actions in the state. Ellison told As It Happens host Nil Köksal that the presence of thousands of ICE agents in Minnesota has his neighbours, and his legal immigrant wife, living in fear.
Calls for DHS leader to step down
In the immediate aftermath of the Good and Pretti shootings, several Trump administration officials denouncing them as “domestic terrorists” who were threatening to harm law enforcement. Multiple video recordings of the two incidents that went viral plainly contradict the notion that either Good or Pretti posed a danger to immigration officers or others.
The comments of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have come under particular scrutiny, with more than 100 Democrats in Congress and a handful of Republicans suggesting she should step down.
While Noem and other administration officials immediately accused Pretti of planning to “massacre” officers, citing the handgun he was carrying, video verified by Reuters showed Pretti held only a phone in his hand when Border Patrol agents pushed him to the ground.
Witness videos verified by CBC News appear to show several officers taking a man to ground before several shots are fired. The man is believed to be Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen whose killing has widened the divide between the Trump administration and Minnesota officials.
Video also showed that an agent found Pretti’s gun near his waist and removed it seconds before another agent shot Pretti in the back while he was being restrained.
Two border agents involved in the Pretti shooting have reportedly been place on leave, but it is unclear if a serious criminal investigation will take place federally.
The Justice Departmen’s deputy attorney general previously said there was no need for a civil rights investigation into Good’s killing.
Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel, normally staunch defenders of the Second Amendment outlining the right to bear arms, condemned Pretti for being armed. The ICU nurse had a permit to legally carry a firearm, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz suggested the ICU nurse appeared to be following state gun laws.
Walz is in his final year in office, and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar announced Thursday she was running to succeed him. She has been among the Democrats in D.C. criticizing ICE tactics, and calling for a limit on future funding for the agency without reforms.
“Minnesota, we’ve been through a lot,” Klobuchar said in a video announcement. “These times call for leaders who can stand up and not be rubber stamps of this [Trump] administration — but who are also willing to find common ground and fix things in our state.”
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