Minnesota governor meets with Trump's border czar

ISTANBUL

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz met Tuesday with US President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan, demanding "impartial investigations" into the recent fatal shootings of American citizens by immigration agents and a significant reduction in federal forces deployed to the state.

The two officials "agreed on the need for an ongoing dialogue and will continue working toward those goals," Walz's office said in a statement, according to FOX 9 news.

Walz requested that the federal administration stop “the campaign of retribution against Minnesota" and designated the Minnesota Department of Public Safety as the primary liaison to Homan "to ensure these goals are met," his office added.

Homan wrote on the US social media company X’s platform after the meeting with Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and top law enforcement that they "all agree that we need to support our law enforcement officers and get criminals off the streets."

"While we don’t agree on everything, these meetings were a productive starting point, and I look forward to more conversations with key stakeholders in the days ahead," he added.

"President Trump has been clear: he wants American cities to be safe and secure for law-abiding residents — and they will be," he added.

Frey said he asked Homan for "Operation Metro Surge to end as quickly as possible."

"I shared with Mr. Homan the serious negative impacts this operation has had on Minneapolis and surrounding communities, as well as the strain it has placed on our local police officers," he wrote on X.

“I also made it clear that Minneapolis does not and will not enforce federal immigration laws, and that we will remain focused on keeping our neighbors and streets safe."

Trump announced Monday that he was dispatching Homan to Minnesota following two fatal shootings of Americans by immigration enforcement agents during operations that sparked mass protests.

The White House said Homan will manage Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations on the ground "to continue arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens."

Trump said separately that Walz requested cooperation on criminal enforcement and noted that they "seemed to be on a similar wavelength."

He urged Minnesota officials on Saturday to let ICE agents do their jobs, claiming that 12,000 undocumented criminals have been arrested, warning that those still present would create "something far worse than you are witnessing today."