Border czar Tom Homan said Thursday that the federal law enforcement operation in Minnesota, which killed two U.S. citizens and sparked national protests, is ending.
“I have proposed — and President Trump has concurred — that this surge operation conclude,” Homan said at a news conference. “A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue into the next week.”
Homan, who was deployed to Minnesota to de-escalate tensions after federal officers killed Alex Pretti last month, said he will stay to oversee the conclusion of Operation Metro Surge. A small number of personnel will also remain in the state to close out the operation, he added.
The announcement came as the heads of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection testified before the Senate about their agencies’ aggressive tactics in Minneapolis, St. Paul and other Democratic-led cities. Congressional Democrats have demanded reforms to ICE and are holding up funding for the Department of Homeland Security over it.
Homan’s announcement was met with some relief — and skepticism — among Minnesotans.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” protester Dianne Hahn told MS NOW outside the building where Homan spoke. “I don’t know why I would trust an administration that lies all day, every day, all the time.”
Gov. Tim Walz said he was “cautiously optimistic,” but said the operation caused “deep damage, generational trauma.” He also called for accountability.
“The federal government needs to be responsible. You don’t get to break things and then just leave without doing something about it,” Walz added.
“ICE withdrawing from Minnesota is just the beginning,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar said. “We need accountability for the lives lost and the extraordinary abuses of power at the hands of ICE agents, and we must see a complete overhaul of the agency.”
Homan first previewed the withdrawal of officers last week, announcing that 700 federal officers had departed Minnesota, leaving about 2,300 in the state who aren’t based there.
In his announcement, Homan acknowledged “issues” with the operation but said that it nevertheless had “great success.”
“The surge is leaving Minnesota safer, Minneapolis safer, because of the cooperation we got with the counties and the state and local law enforcement responding to our needs,” Homan said.
Local officials have repeatedly pushed back against that claim.
“Two of the three homicides committed in Minneapolis in 2026 have come at the hands of federal immigration agents,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said at a Thursday hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee. “The surge is contributing to violent crime.”
The operation, which began in December, has drawn more bipartisan backlash than any of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations so far. In January, federal officers shot three people, two of them — Pretti and Renee Good — fatally.
Members of the administration were quick to label Pretti and Good “domestic terrorists” after they were killed, despite multiple videos from bystanders showing otherwise. But the fallout over their deaths spurred the White House to make changes to its operation in Minnesota.
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Laura Haefeli and Ebony Davis contributed to this report.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.