Border czar says Minnesota immigration crackdown is over, after angry protests and 2 fatal shootings

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Trump medication is ending a monolithic migration crackdown that swept crossed the Minneapolis-St. Paul country and different Minnesota communities, borderline czar Tom Homan said Thursday, concluding an cognition that led to thousands of arrests, aggravated wide protests and the fatal shootings of 2 U.S. citizens.

The crackdown, which the Department of Homeland Security called its “ largest migration enforcement cognition ever,” became the astir salient flashpoint successful the statement implicit President Donald Trump’s wide deportation efforts.

The surge of thousands of national officers changed beingness crossed the Twin Cities. Convoys of unmarked SUVs became commonplace successful immoderate migrant neighborhoods, wherever residents could stumble onto masked men successful assemblage armor making arrests and throngs of protesters who filled the aerial with taunts, insults and shrieking whistles.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation, which flared up into thoroughfare clashes aft national officers killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti successful Minneapolis, became a large governmental distraction for the Trump administration. The announcement of a drawdown marked a important retreat arsenic a caller AP-NORC canvass recovered that astir U.S. adults accidental Trump’s migration policies person gone excessively far.

Operation Metro Surge, which started successful December, resulted successful much than 4,000 arrests, Homan told reporters Thursday morning, declaring it a success.

“The surge is leaving Minnesota safer,” helium said. “I’ll accidental it again: It’s little of a sanctuary authorities for criminals.”

But portion the medication portrayed its Minnesota targets arsenic unsafe criminals, galore had nary transgression records and they included moving families, children similar 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and U.S. citizens.

Relief and skepticism travel announcement

In a metropolis with a agelong past of progressive politics, determination was skepticism, on with relief, astatine Homan's announcement.

“We volition judge it erstwhile we spot it — and immoderate ICE beingness is simply a menace to everyone's safety,” Minneapolis City Council Member Aurin Chowdhury said successful a statement. “We volition beryllium near successful the aftermath of destruction, and we volition person to prime up the pieces of our communities.”

The surge sent waves of fearfulness done migrant communities, with children staying location from schoolhouse oregon learning remotely, migrant businesses temporarily shutting down and religion pews near empty. Residents delivered thousands of meals to families excessively acrophobic to permission home.

A sprawling activistic web pushed backmost against the surge, with thousands of volunteers tracking the convoys of heavy equipped national agents. Clashes were commonplace for a time, with protesters throwing snowballs and spraying graffiti and officers sometimes utilizing teardrop state and capsicum spray.

Trump initially said the surge was an effort to basal retired fraud successful publically funded programs, which helium blamed connected the state's ample Somali community, astir of whom are U.S. citizens. But it soon shifted gears toward different taste groups, specified arsenic Latinos and West Africans.

State and section officials, who often clashed with national authorities, accidental the swarm of migration officials has inflicted semipermanent harm connected Minnesota's system and migrant community.

Russ Adams of the Lake Street Council, a nonprofit serving the mostly migrant vicinity of the aforesaid name, estimated that businesses determination mislaid tens of millions of dollars successful December and January.

“We’re not going to retrieve successful March, adjacent if 2,000 ICE agents permission tomorrow,” helium said past week. “You don’t travel backmost from that.”

Governor urges continued vigilance

Democratic Gov. Tim Walz urged residents to stay vigilant successful the coming days arsenic migration officers hole to permission and said helium volition not explicit gratitude for the Trump medication officials who caused “this unnecessary, unwarranted and successful galore cases unconstitutional battle connected our state.”

“It’s going to beryllium a agelong road,” Walz said astatine a quality conference. “Minnesotans are decent, caring, loving neighbors and they’re besides immoderate of the toughest radical you’ll find. And we’re successful this arsenic agelong arsenic it takes.”

The politician projected a $10 cardinal assistance bundle for businesses that person suffered, and helium called connected Washington to assistance money the recovery.

“You don’t get to interruption things and past conscionable permission without doing thing astir it,” helium said.

Homan was vague astir a timeline for the drawdown, but Walz said Homan assured him that officers would commencement leaving immediately.

“We volition assistance you get to the airport,” the politician said. “We volition wide the roadworthy to get to the airport. I volition battalion your damn bags if that’s what it takes.”

Homeland Security backing quality continues

Homan's announcement came arsenic Democratic lawmakers are demanding restraints connected migration officers earlier agreeing to money DHS. The Trump medication is trying to unafraid votes successful Congress to forestall national backing from expiring astatine the extremity of the week.

Walz, a erstwhile congressman, said the announcement does not marque him immoderate readier to enactment restoring DHS funding. He added that helium has been successful interaction with Democratic leaders successful some houses of Congress and urged them to “hold the enactment until you get the astatine slightest minimum reforms indispensable successful this rogue agency.”

In Washington, Republican Sen. Rand Paul said the shootings successful Minneapolis changed however immoderate Americans saw the migration crackdown.

“It’s intelligibly evident that the nationalist spot has been lost,” the Kentucky legislator said astatine a Thursday hearing. “To reconstruct spot successful ICE and Border Patrol, they indispensable admit their mistakes, beryllium honorable and forthright with their rules of engagement and pledge to reform.”

Homan says the surge volition extremity but not enforcement

“President Trump made a committedness of wide deportation, and that’s what this state is going to get,” Homan said.

Todd Lyons, the acting manager of ICE, said during the proceeding that the bureau is inactive looking for astir 16,840 radical successful Minnesota with last orders of removal.

Homan took implicit the cognition successful precocious January aft the 2nd fatal shooting, of Pretti, and amid increasing governmental backlash astir however the cognition was being tally by Gregory Bovino, a proudly norm-breaking elder Border Patrol authoritative who became the nationalist look of the crackdown.

‘Don’t judge what they say'

Later Thursday, Sheila Rzepecki was among radical visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, an array of candles, posters, flowers and cards near astatine the country of her shooting.

Her lad is disabled, she said, and his wellness aide, who is from Colombia, has been excessively frightened to permission her location adjacent though she is successful the U.S. legally.

“This is the fearfulness they enactment into specified fantastic radical successful our community,” Rzepecki said.

She dismissed the assertion that the surge near the portion safer, saying: “The radical they are rounding up are the radical that are truthful important to our community. Don't judge what they say.”

Many activists said the combat is not over. Lisa Erbes, a person of the protestation radical Indivisible Twin Cities, said officials indispensable beryllium held accountable.

“People person died. Families person been torn apart,” Erbes said. “We can’t conscionable accidental this is implicit and hide the symptom and suffering that has been enactment connected the radical of Minnesota.”

In New York, Mayor Zohran Mamdani met successful the day with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to sermon ways to support immigrants.

“They thought they could interruption us, but a emotion for our neighbors and a resoluteness to endure tin outlast an occupation,” Frey said connected societal media. “These patriots of Minneapolis are showing that it’s not conscionable astir absorption — lasting with our neighbors is profoundly American.”

___

Associated Press reporters Mark Vancleave successful Minneapolis; John Seewer successful Toledo, Ohio; Russ Bynum successful Savannah, Georgia; Elliot Spagat successful San Diego; Rebecca Santana and Nathan Ellgren successful Washington; and Jake Offenhartz successful New York contributed.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.