Border czar says Minnesota immigration crackdown is ending: “I don’t want to see any more bloodshed”

Border Patrol Chief Tom Homan announced Thursday that Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota is coming to an end, as immigration enforcement officers will be drawn down within the next week.

“I intend, and President Trump has agreed, that this operation is over,” Homan said at a news conference held at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling in Minneapolis.

Homan says the decision was made after considering two major factors: the number of “public safety threats” arresting the operation has been successful, and the significant decrease in the need for government officials to call in emergency response teams because of “protesters.”

“That’s a good thing. That’s a win for everybody, not just law enforcement,” Homan said. “It’s a win for this community.”

He said a “significant decline” was already underway in the province, adding, “I don’t want to see any more bloodshed.”

“We have a lot of work to do across the country to eliminate public safety risks, which should not even be in this country. And to fulfill President Trump’s promise of tighter border security and mass deportations, the law enforcement officers pulled from this operation will return to duty station or be reassigned to do just that.”

The announcement comes the next morning as top Minnesota officials testify at a US Senate hearing on immigration enforcement, including Attorney General Keith Ellison, Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell and US House Chief Whip Tom Emmer.

In his opening statement at that hearing, Ellison said Operation Metro Surge caused “real harm” to Minnesota.

“This fight in Minnesota is a return to affirmative action — our policies, our values ​​and the way we vote,” Ellison said. “And it comes at a great cost.

Emmer responded, calling the conflict seen in Minnesota “a direct result of Minnesota’s sanctuary and state policies,” adding that he believes those policies “turned Minnesota into a safe haven for illegal aliens.”

Homan arrived in Minnesota in late January, less than a week after federal officials announced the commander of the Border Patrol Gregory Bovino and his other ambassadors would travel to the area.

On February 4, Homan said authorities would immediately “draw down” 700 law enforcement officers in Minnesota and that about 2,000 agents will remain in the state. The number was about 150 before the operation.

“My goal, with the support of President Trump, is to achieve a complete de-escalation and an end to this attack as quickly as possible, but that depends very much on the end of the illegal and intimidating activities against ICE and its federal partners that we see in the public,” Homan said earlier this month.

Gov. Tim Walz said on Tuesday Operation Metro Surge is expected to last “days, not weeks and months.”

White House officials said earlier this month there was at least 4,000 were arrested in Minnesota related to federal operations.