700 federal agents to leave Minnesota

FORT SNELLING, Minnesota — The US administration is withdrawing some 700 federal immigration enforcement agents from Minnesota, although about 2,000 agents will stay in place, White House border czar Tom Homan announced on Wednesday, a number the state's Democratic leaders say is still too high.

In an unprecedented surge, US President Donald Trump deployed thousands of armed immigration enforcement agents in and around Minneapolis this year to detain and deport migrants, resulting in weeks of feuding with the state's elected leaders, angry and sometimes violent confrontations with residents, and street protests across the nation.

Homan said the deportation campaign was in the interest of public safety. He was partially reducing the deployment because he was seeing "unprecedented" cooperation from Minnesota's elected sheriffs who run county jails, although he did not give more details.

Asked about Homan's announcement and what he had learned from Minneapolis, Trump said in an interview with NBC's Nightly News, "I learned that maybe we could use a little bit of a softer touch. But you still have to be tough."

"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 at a news conference. "President Trump made a promise. And we have not directed otherwise."

Homan also said there had been "a gap" in giving agents body cameras, which he was hoping to fix with Congress.

The deportation sweeps, dubbed Operation Metro Surge, have been opposed and denounced since early January by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other elected Democrats, drawing angry insults and unspecified accusations of law-breaking from Trump.

Demanding restraint

Walz and Frey have sued the administration in federal court, demanding the restraint or withdrawal of a federal deployment that was about 20 times the normal number of immigration enforcement agents in the state, outnumbering local police forces.

Both Walz and Frey, in separate statements, called Homan's announcement encouraging but insufficient.

"The drawdown and body-worn cameras are a step in the right direction, but 2,000 ICE officers still here is not de-escalation," Frey said. "My message to the White House has been consistent — Operation Metro Surge has been catastrophic for our businesses and residents. It needs to end immediately."

Grappling with a thorny political crisis in his tenure, Trump sent Homan to Minnesota in late January with a mission to talk with Walz and Frey and temper the outrage seen in Minneapolis streets, which intensified after immigration agents fatally shot two US citizens.

The president's deportation efforts, part of a nationwide campaign, have drawn criticism even from some of his fellow Republicans and stern rebukes from some federal judges asked to rule on the legality of migrants' detentions, who say their orders are being defied.

Meanwhile, Democrats are also threatening to block funding for the Homeland Security Department when it expires in two weeks unless there are "dramatic changes" and "real accountability" for ICE and other law enforcement agencies which are carrying out the campaign of federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota and across the country.

Congress is discussing potential new rules for ICE and US Customs and Border Protection. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries reiterated their party's demands on Wednesday, with Schumer telling reporters that Congress must "rein in ICE in very serious ways, and end the violence".

Democrats are "drawing a line in the sand" as Republicans need their votes to continue the funding, Jeffries said.

The negotiations come amid some bipartisan sentiment that Congress should step in to de-escalate tensions over the enforcement operations. But finding real agreement in such a short time will be difficult, if not "an impossibility", Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Tuesday.

Agencies Via Xinhua