WASHINGTON
Trump administration officials are working on a plan to "soon" reduce the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota, White House border czar Tom Homan said Thursday.
Homan acknowledged faults in the administration’s immigration crackdown, but said the reduction of ICE officers is contingent on the implementation of agreements with state and local officials amid what he described as ongoing "meaningful dialogue."
"The withdrawal of law enforcement resources here is dependent upon cooperation," he told reporters in Minneapolis. "We have some agreements. We got more to talk about, how we're going to implement these agreements. But as we see that cooperation happen, then the redeployment will happen."
Homan said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has confirmed that county jails "may notify ICE of the release dates of criminal public safety risks so ICE can take custody upon their release from the jail." That kind of agreement, he said, will allow ICE to limit its presence because "more agents in the jail means less agents in the street."
"This is common sense cooperation that allows us to draw down on the number of people we have here," he said.
Protests against ICE operations and federal shootings have taken place for more than a month in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Demonstrations escalated following the killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, by immigration officers Saturday, and the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old mother of three.
The Pretti shooting heightened existing tensions as local and state leaders demand independent investigations, and question federal cooperation with authorities.
Homan declined to address any specific shooting, but said he did not "want to hear that everything that's been done here has been perfect."
"Nothing's ever perfect. Anything can be improved on. And what we've been working on is making this operation safer, more efficient, by the book," he said.
In a departure from comments by some administration officials that have castigated demonstrators as "agitators", "domestic terrorists" and "rioters," Homan voiced support for Americans' right to protest.
"You have your First Amendment rights. I support that. You have the right to protest. I'm just asking you to keep it peaceful," he said. "But threatening law enforcement officers engaging in impeding obstruction and assault is never okay, and there'll be zero tolerance."