Trump to end Minnesota immigration blitz in White House retreat

White House border czar Tom Homan in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Feb. 12.

• Trump administration pulls back immigration surge in Minnesota
• Operation Metro Surge ends after protests, 2 US citizens killed
• 62% say federal immigration actions went too far

Did our AI summary help?

The Trump administration is retreating from its immigration-enforcement blitz in Minnesota, pulling back after more than two months of operations that left two US citizens dead, spurred massive protests and torpedoed support for one of President Donald Trump’s signature policies.

The drawdown in forces, outlined Thursday by White House border czar Tom Homan, marks a major step to deescalate an operation that sparked congressional scrutiny of the administration’s tactics. Federal agents last month shot and killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis in incidents that were captured on video and drew national outrage.

“I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation concludes,” Homan said at a press conference that took place at the same time as a US Senate hearing into immigration enforcement. “A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue to the next week.”

The administration launched Operation Metro Surge in early December, initially saying the effort was aimed at targeting a far-reaching public fraud scheme involving members of the Somali-American community. The campaign quickly swelled in January with thousands of agents sent to the Twin Cities.

Greg Bovino, the US Border Patrol commander who championed an aggressive approach against migrants and observers, appeared to take control of the operation in early January, posting a photo of himself in the Minnesota state capitol building.

Bovino had previously led surge operations around the country, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Charlotte and New Orleans. He was replaced by Homan to help ease tensions following Pretti’s death.

Homan has emphasized a shift to more targeted enforcement in recent weeks and after his arrival there, announced earlier this month that Department of Homeland Security would immediately pull 700 officers from Minneapolis. That left about 2,000 federal immigration agents remaining, still far higher than the roughly 150 officers that would be normal.

In his latest remarks, he signaled that enforcement actions would continue to some extent, saying “a small footprint of personnel will remain for a period of time to close out, and transition full command and control back to the field office.”

The moves come as Trump’s approval ratings on immigration, once a political asset, have cratered amid widespread criticism over the aggressive actions of federal agents in US cities.

A poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released earlier Thursday found that 62% said deploying federal immigration agents into cities had “gone too far.” Among those surveyed, 54% said Trump had also gone too far in restricting legal immigration and 52% said the same regarding efforts to deport immigrants living in the US illegally.

Shares of private prison operator Geo Group fell as much as 18% on Thursday following Homan’s comments, erasing gains since Trump was voted back into office.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, in a post on X, described the operation as being “catastrophic for our neighbors and businesses,” but expressed optimism that the region will rebound.

This operation has been catastrophic for our neighbors and businesses, and now it’s time for a great comeback. We will show the same commitment to our immigrant residents and endurance in this reopening, and I’m hopeful the whole country will stand with us as we move forward.

— Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) February 12, 2026

Homan said that he had been pleased with the progress he observed in Minnesota, highlighting what he cast as strong cooperation with state and local leaders to detain immigrants with criminal records and commitments from state and local law enforcement officials that they would respond if federal agents were “impeded or assaulted.”

“We’ve seen a big change here last couple weeks, it’s all good changes,” Homan said.

Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz had signaled that he expected an announcement on a broader drawdown earlier this week, saying he saw it coming in “days, not weeks and months.”

Trump has previously said that he decided to scale back the operation in Minneapolis, telling NBC News in a recent interview that he was “not happy with what happened there.” Still, the administration sought to place the blame for the tensions on state and local officials, accusing them of endangering public safety by opposing the federal presence.

The immigration crackdown has also sparked a fight in Congress, where Senate Democrats are opposing a measure to fund DHS unless they secure changes to Trump’s enforcement policies, raising the risk of a partial government shutdown that would start Saturday.

Democrats are looking to require judicial warrants before immigration agents can enter homes and businesses as they search for unauthorized migrants. Republican leaders say such moves would hamper federal agents’ ability to carry out their mission. Even if there is a funding lapse, however, immigration enforcement activities would not cease and officers are expected to be paid using funds from Trump’s tax-and-spending law.