In Minnesota and Maine, Trump administration signals a shift on immigration
White House border czar Tom Homan answers questions at a news conference in Minneapolis, Jan. 29, 2026.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
The Trump administration appears to be softening its approach to immigration enforcement in some locales amid outcry from the public and Democratic lawmakers over the recent killings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis.
Tom Homan, President Donald Trump鈥檚 border czar, that he was working on a 鈥渄rawdown鈥� plan that would reduce the number of federal immigration agents in Minnesota. And Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine that the Department of Homeland Security had notified her it would end Operation Catch of the Day, an immigration enforcement campaign that was launched in her state on Jan. 21.
Mr. Homan conditioned a withdrawal of immigration agents on increased cooperation between federal law enforcement and local officials. 鈥淭he withdrawal of law enforcement here is dependent on cooperation,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s we see that cooperation happen, the redeployment will happen.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
President Donald Trump鈥檚 border czar outlined a 鈥渄rawdown鈥� of immigration agents in Minnesota, while Maine鈥檚 GOP senator said an enhanced enforcement campaign there would also end. It represents a notable shift in response to public outrage over the killings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents.
The announcements show a marked shift in tone as the administration seeks to respond to broad public outrage over the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens 鈥� Renee Good and Alex Pretti 鈥� in separate incidents by federal immigration personnel during their operations in Minneapolis.
Protests have swept through that city, and others, for weeks. On Monday, it was reported that Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander who had helmed the operation in Minneapolis, would leave the city. and have called for the impeachment or firing of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who has faced criticism for falsely claiming that Mr. Pretti was 鈥渂randishing鈥� a gun as he approached federal agents. Eyewitnesses and videos have disputed that version of events, and a report from the Department of Homeland Security earlier this week聽 Mr. Pretti brandishing a gun.
The remarks from Mr. Homan, who arrived in Minnesota on Monday, were more measured. He said that he had met with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. He characterized those meetings with Democratic leaders as yielding 鈥渕eaningful dialogue,鈥� and said that he intends to continue working with local law enforcement and community leaders.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 agree on everything. I didn鈥檛 expect to agree on everything,鈥� Mr. Homan said. 鈥淏ottom line is you can鈥檛 fix problems if you don鈥檛 have discussions. I didn鈥檛 come to Minnesota for photo ops or headlines. ... I came here to seek solutions.鈥�
Still, Mr. Homan heavily criticized 鈥渟anctuary cities,鈥� or jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Minnesota鈥檚 state prisons, however, have been honoring Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers, he said. Detainers are non-binding requests from ICE to local law enforcement to hold arrestees suspected of violating immigration laws so that ICE can take them into custody. Sanctuary jurisdictions often do not honor them.
Mr. Homan also said that Attorney General Ellison 鈥渃larified鈥� that Minnesota鈥檚 county jails 鈥渕ay notify ICE of the release dates of criminal public safety risks so ICE can take custody of them.鈥� Mr. Ellison鈥檚 office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ICE and other immigration agencies, Mr. Homan said, will conduct 鈥渢argeted鈥� enforcement operations, primarily targeting those with serious criminal histories. Yet he emphasized that the agency was not 鈥渟urrendering the president鈥檚 mission on immigration enforcement.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 not here because the federal government has carried its mission out perfectly,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he mission is going to improve because of the changes we鈥檙e making internally.鈥�
The Trump administration has long contended that its immigration agents primarily target unauthorized immigrants with criminal histories. But news reports have found that 聽of those arrested by ICE have no criminal histories. Amid the crackdown in Maine, locals told the Monitor that some of the arrests there appeared indiscriminate, and local officials have .
In her social media post, Senator Collins said that 鈥渢here are currently no ongoing or planned large-scale ICE operations鈥� in Maine. Ms. Collins had for days been pressuring Secretary Noem to end the immigration operation in that state, which ICE said today had of 206 people.