FORT SNELLING, Minnesota - The Trump administration announced a partial reduction in its Minnesota immigration enforcement deployment on Wednesday, cutting 700 federal agents while retaining about 2,000 personnel in the state, White House border czar Tom Homan said at a news conference.
Homan said the pullback was in part a response to what he described as "unprecedented" cooperation from elected county sheriffs who manage many local jails across Minnesota. He stressed, however, that the reduction does not signal any retreat from the administration's broader enforcement objectives.
"Let me be clear, President Trump fully intends to achieve mass deportations during this administration, and immigration enforcement actions will continue every day throughout this country," Homan said. "President Trump made a promise. And we have not directed otherwise."
The administration deployed thousands of armed immigration enforcement agents in and around Minneapolis earlier this year with the stated aim of detaining and deporting migrants. Those deployments have prompted weeks of protests across the state.
Legal and political pushback has followed the surge: Minnesota, a state governed by Democrats, has brought suit against the federal government over the troop-like deployments. The confrontations surrounding the surge have been marked by violence, including the killings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents, incidents that have intensified scrutiny and protest activity.
Homan said the administration wants more Minnesota jails to accept transfers so immigration agents can move custody of detained migrants into federal hands. He acknowledged that some county jails already cooperate with federal immigration authorities, while others do not. Notably, the main jail in Minneapolis does not accept such transfers.
City policies in Minneapolis and other municipalities further complicate federal efforts. Those local rules bar employees, including police officers, from asking about a person's immigration status or cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. Local officials say those protections are intended to preserve public safety by ensuring migrants who are victims or witnesses to crime are not deterred from coming forward.
The administration's stated goal of large-scale removals and its continued daily enforcement actions underscore that, despite the partial drawdown in Minnesota, federal immigration activity will remain a persistent presence in the state and nationwide.