ICE surge in Minnesota is ending, Border Czar Tom Homan says

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Trump administration will bring an end to the ICE surge in Minnesota after reaching agreements with local authorities, Border Czar Tom Homan announced on Thursday.

ICE surge coming to an end

What we know:

Tom Homan says the White House has already begun drawing down federal officers in Minnesota and the drawdown will continue through next week. The decision to pull out federal officers, Homan says, comes through consultation with President Trump.

Earlier this week, Gov. Walz said he anticipated Homan making a significant drawdown of the ICE surge.

By the numbers:

At its peak, there were about 3,000 federal officers in Minnesota between ICE, Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Following the shooting of Alex Pretti, President Trump removed some federal officers. Last week, Tom Homan announced a further drawdown of about 700 officers, bringing the headcount to about 2,000 officers.

'Minnesota is less of a sanctuary state'

What they're saying:

Homan justified the decision by noting significant changes in cooperation with local law enforcement bodies in Minnesota.

"We now have the ability to arrest criminal aliens in the safety and security of jails throughout the state at the time they're being released, like we've done in other states," said Homan. "I've also directed the strategic placement of officers in certain areas throughout the states that respond quickly to sheriffs that want to release somebody and notify us. We need to be nearby so they don't hold them unnecessarily. So we worked on a strategic plan to reassign officers in those key locations. Arresting a public safety threat. And the safety and security of a jail is safer for the alien. It's safer for the officer and safer for the community. I think we all can agree on that."

Homan says the cooperation has made Minnesota "less of a sanctuary state."

"As a result of our efforts here, Minnesota is now less of a sanctuary state for criminals," said Homan. "And we are proud of the public safety threats we have removed from the criminal aliens out of the state."