White House border czar Tom Homan says the sweeping immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota is concluding.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
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Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
A “small” federal security force will remain in Minnesota “for a short period of time” after the immigration enforcement crackdown ends, according to White House border czar Tom Homan.
“We already removed well over 1,000 people, and as of Monday-Tuesday, we’ll remove several hundred more. We’ll get back to the original footprint,” Homan said, speaking on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday. Exceptions beyond that footprint, he said, will include agents who will remain to finish investigating allegations of fraud related to day care funds as well as the anti-ICE protest that had disrupted service at a church, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor.
Homan said an additional security force — described in size only as “small” — will stay to “respond to when our agents are out, and they get surrounded by agitators and things got out of control.”
“They’ll remain for a short period of time, just to make sure the coordination, the agreements we have with local state law enforcement stay in place, and they respond to a public safety threat when needed,” Homan said, adding that he hoped that contingent of security forces “can be removed fairly quickly.”
On Thursday, Homan announced the conclusion of the Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge,” which sent thousands of immigration agents into the state. This drew extensive protests, as agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens.
On CBS on Sunday, Homan was also asked about the shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security that began this weekend after lawmakers failed to agree on agency funding as Democrats push for policy changes. Homan repeatedly said he was not a part of those negotiations, though he also took issue with some of the Democrats’ demands, including calls to prohibit ICE agents from wearing masks to conceal their faces.
“I don’t like the masks either,” Homan said, but also echoed the Republicans’ argument that revealing officers’ identities would would make it easier for people to dox them. “The masks right now are for officer safety reasons.” ICE has not shared details of violence or attacks related to exposure of agents’ identities.
