Minnesotans Skeptical as Homan Announces Drawdown of DHS Operations in State

White House border czar Tom Homan announced on Thursday morning that “Operation Metro Surge” — the Trump administration’s violent immigration crackdown in Minnesota — would be ending in around a week.

“I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this operation conclude,” Homan said during a press conference. “A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue through the next week.”

Homan said that 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,” though he didn’t specify what that would mean.

The operation has seen around 3,000 Department of Homeland Security agents (DHS) — including agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) — flood Minnesota over the past two and a half months, taking particular aim at Minneapolis and St. Paul. The agents have harassed and abducted residents, showing blatant disregard for due process rights and frequently making headlines for their brutality.

In January, after DHS agents shot and killed Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the Trump administration vowed “de-escalation” — but only after baselessly smearing both victims as “domestic terrorists.” Residents of the state say that “de-escalation” never materialized, with DHS agents continuing to invade communities and terrorize residents through this week.

News that the operation would be concluding was met with a mixture of relief and skepticism from state and local leaders.

An initial social media post from Gov. Tim Walz (D) seemed to take Homan’s statement at face value. The governor gave credit for the supposed conclusion of the operation to residents of the state.

“Thank you, Minnesota,” Walz wrote.

In statements later that day, Walz acknowledged that more work needed to be done, especially in light of the damage that DHS agents inflicted upon the Twin Cities, including “economic ruin” and “generational trauma.”

“We are cautiously optimistic that this surge of untrained aggressive federal agents are going to leave Minnesota,” he went on. “And I guess they’ll go wherever they’re going to go.”

Minneapolis City Council member Jamal Osman, himself a Somali American immigrant, expressed guarded optimism.

“If this surge is truly ending, that is welcome news,” he wrote on Facebook.

But he continued to condemn the administration’s actions, writing:

The Constitution does not surge in and out of effect. Due process is not conditional. Public safety must be rooted in law — not fear, not chaos, not mass deployments that disrupt entire communities.

“Ending the surge is a start. But rebuilding trust, repairing harm, and supporting the families and businesses impacted — that is the real work ahead,” Osam added.

Another member of the city council, Jason Chavez, praised the residents of Minneapolis, recognizing that the outcome was a result of their resistance.

“I am proud of you and our immigrant residents. Your resiliency, strength, and dedication have led to the announcement that ‘Operation Metro Surge’ will end soon,” he said in a statement.

He then asked the community “to remain cautious and vigilant until we can confirm what this truly means.”

“They said they are not backing down from mass deportation, but will be ending the operation in Minnesota soon. I recommend you continue your current plan until we can give you more information,” Chavez said. “We still need observers and the community to be on the lookout.”

Notably, DHS funding is set to expire this week unless Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C. can agree on a budget bill. Working Families Party National Director Maurice Mitchell issued a statement describing the announcement that the surge would be ending as a potential distraction from that vote.

“Donald Trump is trying to distract us and turn our attention away from the growing resistance in Congress to funding his campaign of cruelty and retribution,” Mitchell said.

Others said celebrations were premature.

“If you didn’t believe Pam Bondi yesterday WHY are you believing Tom Homan today?” one Minneapolis resident asked, referencing the attorney general’s performance at a congressional hearing on Wednesday.

Over the past 10 weeks, DHS arrested thousands of people in Minnesota, including many immigrants who were in the U.S. with documentation and no criminal record, splitting up families and sending those who were detained, including young children, to out-of-state prisons. People with knowledge of those prisons say people there are living in squalid conditions.

Agents wreaked horror in the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul, demanding compliance from residents without providing identification. In at least one case, agents assaulted a resident who was unable to comply with their orders due to her disability.

After the killings of Good and Pretti, DHS refused to cooperate with local investigators. In the former’s case, federal agents who had begun an investigation, per protocol after such shootings, were instructed by DOJ higher-ups to terminate it days later because their findings could contradict Trump’s narrative about what happened.

ICE and CBP agents relentlessly teargassed residents who exercised their First Amendment right to protest, often targeting bystanders in the process. In one example, a family was returning from their child’s basketball practice when they got caught up in an anti-ICE protest and were instructed by agents to move. When they were unable to do so, agents set off flashbombs and teargas canisters under their car, damaging the vehicle and injuring the adults and children inside — including a 6-month old baby who temporarily stopped breathing and lost consciousness.

The violence from federal agents sparked strong showings of resistance, with tens of thousands of Minnesotans taking part in mass protests, defying extreme cold temperatures to voice their opposition to the operation. Thousands of residents and businesses also participated in a day-long general strike.

Immigrant families, including children, also led an uprising at an immigration jail in Dilley, Texas, protesting the dire conditions at the facility and their imprisonment thousands of miles from their families. Many of the participants in that protest were originally detained in Minnesota.

Grassroots groups are continuing to advocate for action to protect the community. Some have called for an eviction moratorium, noting that families have been hiding in their homes out of fear of being abducted by ICE and CBP agents, making it hard for them to pay their rents or mortgages.

Despite worries that Democrats would agree to fund DHS following Homan’s announcement, Senate Democrats blocked a funding bill on Thursday afternoon. The Trump administration’s next steps remain to be seen.