{"id":78194,"date":"2026-02-05T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T07:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/?p=78194"},"modified":"2026-02-04T20:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T03:20:16","slug":"president-trump-says-he-ordered-700-agents-to-leave-minnesota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/president-trump-says-he-ordered-700-agents-to-leave-minnesota\/","title":{"rendered":"President Trump says he ordered 700 agents to leave Minnesota"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"President<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

President Trump said on Wednesday that he personally ordered the withdrawal of 700 law enforcement officers involved in the federal immigration crackdown in Minnesota and that his administration could use a \u201csofter touch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administration had sent thousands of federal officers and agents to Minnesota starting in December, a deployment that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said was the agency\u2019s \u201clargest operation to date.\u201d But the surge drew criticism because of the aggressive tactics used by immigration officers, and outrage intensified after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot in confrontations with federal authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with NBC, Mr. Trump said the administration\u2019s approach would continue to be \u201ctough\u201d and he urged local officials to cooperate with federal immigration officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t come from me because I just wanted to do it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are waiting for them to release prisoners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier in the day, Tom Homan, the White House border czar, said about 2,000 officers and agents would be left in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Homan said the change came after an \u201cunprecedented number of counties\u201d were cooperating with federal officials and allowing ICE to take custody of unauthorized immigrants before they were released from jails. But he did not specify which counties had increased their cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is smart law enforcement, not less law enforcement,\u201d Mr. Homan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of last month, sheriffs in at least seven of Minnesota\u2019s 87 counties had signed agreements with ICE to collaborate with the agency on immigration enforcement, sharing information about inmates who might be in the country unlawfully. The state\u2019s Department of Corrections has long worked closely with ICE, notifying the agency when an immigrant convicted of a felony is set to be released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Hennepin County\u2019s jail has had a policy of refusing to share information with ICE for basic immigration enforcement since 2019 over concerns about public safety and undocumented immigrants\u2019 reluctance to report crimes. Minneapolis is in Hennepin County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minnesota\u2019s attorney general, Keith Ellison, has said that agreements to hold detainees for federal officials require the approval of a county\u2019s elected board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State and local officials said the drawdown was welcome but did not go far enough. Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis, a Democrat, said in a statement that the reduction in officers was \u201ca step in the right direction\u201d but that 2,000 federal officers in the region was still \u201cnot de-escalation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy message to the White House has been consistent \u2014 Operation Metro Surge has been catastrophic for our businesses and residents,\u201d he said, referring to the name of the federal crackdown in the city. \u201cIt needs to end immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message was echoed by Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, also a Democrat, in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday\u2019s announcement is a step in the right direction, but we need a faster and larger drawdown of forces, state-led investigations into the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and an end to this campaign of retribution,\u201d Mr. Walz said, referring to the two Americans who were killed in encounters with federal immigration officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Trump tasked Mr. Homan with taking over the enforcement operation in Minnesota last week, days after Mr. Pretti, an intensive care nurse, was fatally shot by officers with Customs and Border Protection. Mr. Pretti\u2019s killing worsened tensions in the region and prompted some Republicans to criticize the Trump administration\u2019s operations. His death came more than two weeks after Ms. Good was shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after the shootings, Department of Homeland Security officials said that federal officers acted in self-defense in both cases, and that Mr. Pretti and Ms. Good intended to harm law enforcement officials. Those accounts have conflicted with witness videos and accounts by local officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside the B.H. Whipple Federal Building near Minneapolis on Wednesday, a small contingent of protesters, who have maintained a daily presence outside the building for weeks, listened to Mr. Homan\u2019s remarks on radios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Woehrle, 78, said he was not impressed by the number included in the drawdown. \u201cWe\u2019re already overwhelmed,\u201d he said. \u201cSeven hundred? I don\u2019t know if you\u2019d even know the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Homan also said on Wednesday that there would be a reorganization of law enforcement officers on the ground. Agents from C.B.P. and ICE would now be under \u201cone unified chain of command.\u201d Last week, the Trump administration decided to move Gregory Bovino, a top Border Patrol official whose enforcement tactics have prompted controversy, out of the Minneapolis region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Homan did not provide a timeline for the full drawdown of the operation, saying that it was dependent on the continued cooperation of local and state officials, along with a decrease in the violence and rhetoric aimed at immigration officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minnesota sheriffs have discussed entering into agreements with the federal government that would allow them to hold detainees sought by immigration agents for up to 48 hours past when they would otherwise be released, said James Stuart, the executive director of the Minnesota Sheriffs\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agreements that would need to be changed by county boards to do this are known as \u201cbasic ordering agreements,\u201d he said. They would apply to people who were arrested on local charges, who were wanted for immigration violations and who were slated to be released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those people would remain in jail for up to 48 hours, Mr. Stuart said, but during that time they would become federal detainees in the custody of the local sheriff rather than local detainees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minnesota officials were also discussing ways to improve communication with federal officials, Mr. Stuart said. Some were open to making arrangements to transfer more local detainees to ICE officials inside a jail, a process that law enforcement considers to be safer than making a new arrest after a person is released onto the streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Homan on Wednesday suggested that efforts to impede immigration enforcement could prolong the deployment in Minnesota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been saying this for almost a year now: Hateful or extreme rhetoric against ICE personnel is completely unacceptable,\u201d Mr. Homan said. \u201cIf the hateful rhetoric didn\u2019t stop, I was afraid there would be bloodshed, and there has been.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration\u2019s crackdown in the region has resulted in weekslong clashes between protesters and law enforcement officers. Residents opposed to the crackdown have blown whistles, honked car horns and shouted profanities at immigration agents. Federal officers have deployed pepper spray and responded violently at times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past month, 158 people have been arrested in connection with assaulting or impeding law enforcement officers, Mr. Homan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n