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The Trump administration is pulling back from its largest-ever immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, with White House border coordinator Tom Homan confirming that approximately 1,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have already departed the Twin Cities region, and hundreds more will leave in the coming days.
Operation Metro Surge Winds Down
The withdrawal marks the end of “Operation Metro Surge,” which the Department of Homeland Security had touted as the most extensive immigration enforcement action ever conducted. Homan, speaking on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, January 15, confirmed that while the bulk of forces are departing, a “small” security contingent will remain temporarily to protect agents still operating in the state and respond to situations where “agents are surrounded by agitators and things get out of control.”
The border czar indicated that more than 1,000 personnel have already been removed from the Minneapolis and St. Paul areas, with several hundred additional withdrawals planned for Monday and Tuesday. “We’ll return to the original staffing size,” Homan stated, though he did not specify the exact numbers of the remaining security force.
Citizen Deaths and Community Resistance
The scaled-back operation comes after two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed by federal officers during the enforcement actions. These deaths sparked public condemnation and raised serious questions about agent conduct, ultimately forcing changes to the operation’s approach.
Thousands of federal agents had been deployed to the Twin Cities area as part of the surge, but the operation quickly met fierce local resistance. Protests became a regular occurrence, and residents organized networks to support immigrants, alert communities about agent presence, and document enforcement actions on video. The tense atmosphere and mounting criticism appear to have influenced the administration’s decision to wind down the operation.
Technology and Civil Liberties Concerns
Adding another dimension to the controversy, the Department of Homeland Security has been pressuring social media companies to help identify protesters opposing ICE operations. According to reporting, DHS has been flooding tech platforms with administrative subpoenas seeking information about accounts organizing protests against the agency. While social media companies have shown some resistance, they are largely complying with these government requests, raising significant civil liberties questions about surveillance of political dissent.
Homan had announced the previous week that 700 federal officers would leave the state immediately, though more than 2,000 agents remained in Minnesota at that time. By Thursday, he confirmed that a “significant reduction” in personnel was underway and would continue throughout the week.
What’s Next
Despite the Minnesota pullback, Homan emphasized that immigration enforcement will not cease, with large-scale deportation operations continuing in other parts of the country. Agents leaving Minnesota will either return to their home bases or be redeployed to other regions. When asked whether future operations might match the Twin Cities surge in scale, Homan said it would “depend on the situation,” leaving open the possibility of similar large-scale actions elsewhere. The remaining security team will also investigate fraud allegations and examine the protest that disrupted a religious service at a church.
Sources: Infomoney, New York Times
