BBC: The Trump administration has suggested it is planning to “draw down” federal forces in Minnesota if there is cooperation from officials, after the fatal shootings of two US citizens in the state.
At a press conference in Minneapolis, White House Border Tsar Tom Homan vowed to continue the immigration enforcement operation, but added he wants “common sense cooperation that allows us to draw down on the number of people we have here”.
“We are not surrendering our mission at all. We’re just doing it smarter,” Homan said.
The deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti have ignited local protests and public outcry across the country, and led to criticism from lawmakers.
It was not clear how many federal forces might leave the city, or when, raising new questions about how far the Trump administration will scale back its operation after the president said he was seeking to “de-escalate” in Minneapolis.
Homan added: “President Trump wants this fixed, and I’m going to fix it.”
The killings of Good and Pretti by agents carrying out Trump’s immigration crackdown this month have provoked protests in Minneapolis, public outcry across the US and calls from lawmakers in both parties for some administration officials to be removed.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have called for a withdrawal of federal agents entirely from the state’s capital region. The state has also asked a federal judge to stop “Operation Metro Surge”, which involves approximately 3,000 immigration, border patrol and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers.
The administration, meanwhile, has blasted local officials, saying they should work with federal officers and agents and also criticised Minneapolis for having a “sanctuary city policy” that bars city employees from enforcing immigration laws.
Homan on Thursday said changes in the operation would depend on how much state and local officials cooperate with federal authorities, and added the administration disagreed with some of Frey and Walz’s demands, but did not specify which ones.
In the hours after Pretti was killed on Saturday, Walz spoke with the White House twice, and since then he and Frey, both Democrats, have had phone calls with Trump.
