US President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan says a significant drawdown of immigration enforcement agents in Minnesota is underway and that he had proposed and Trump agreed that the surge there should end.
Under Operation Metro Surge, Trump had deployed about 3000 armed immigration agents by late January to deport illegal migrants in Minnesota.
The surge has led to tumultuous scenes in Minneapolis, the state’s biggest city.
Residents have come out onto the streets, some blowing whistles, in protest against masked agents in military-style gear.
On different days in January, immigration agents fatally shot two US citizens who had come out to protest or observe the agents.
WA’s biggest courts and crime stories to your inbox
Sign-up to our weekly newsletter for free
“I have proposed and President Trump has concurred that this surge operation conclude,” Homan told reporters at a press conference.
A week ago, Homan announced that about 700 out of 3000 immigration agents would be withdrawn.
He said on Thursday that many of the remaining agents deployed from other states would be sent home in the coming week, citing in part what he called “unprecedented” co-ordination with local law enforcement agencies in Minnesota.
Before the surge, about 150 immigration agents worked in Minnesota.
.@RealTomHoman in MN: “With that success that has been made arresting public safety threats and… unprecedented levels of coordination we have obtained from state officials & local law enforcement, I have proposed, and @POTUS has concurred, that this surge operation conclude.” pic.twitter.com/arbE90D2s1— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 12, 2026
The deportation sweeps have been staunchly opposed by Minnesota governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, and other elected officials in the state.
His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, who last month joined Walz in suing the federal administration and asked a judge to restrain the surge, said in a statement that the increased deployment had been catastrophic.
“They thought they could break us but a love for our neighbours and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation,” Frey said as he welcomed Homan’s announcement.
The chief federal judge in Minnesota has reprimanded administration officials, saying the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has defied dozens of court orders to free wrongly arrested migrants.
Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans have also criticised the way the deportation surge has been carried out and how the administration has handled the killings of two citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
As Homan made his announcement, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison was in Washington DC testifying before a Senate committee that oversees homeland security.
Rand Paul, the committee’s Republican chairman, criticised how Trump’s administration had described Good and Pretti after they were killed.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other administration officials initially called them “domestic terrorists”.
“The First and Second Amendment are not suspended during periods of unrest or during protests,” said Paul, a libertarian from Kentucky, referring to constitutional rights to free speech and to carry weapons.
“When officials speak imprecisely or rashly about constitutional limits, especially in volatile moments, they risk inflaming the situation rather than stabilising it.”
