Border czar Tom Homan announced Wednesday that the Trump administration is reducing its federal law enforcement operation in Minneapolis by 700 personnel, leaving “right around 2,000” feds in the Twin Cities. 

Homan credited the drawdown, for which Democratic elected officials and left-wing protesters have clamored since late last year, to “unprecedented cooperation” from local officials and touted “significant progress” in the state since he took over Operation Metro Surge at the end of January. 

In particular, Homan said the increased cooperation between county jails and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made the drawdown possible.

“As a result of the need for less law enforcement officers to do this work in a safer environment, I have announced, effective immediately, we will draw down 700 people effective today,” Homan said.

Ultimately, the goal is to have a “complete drawdown” and “get back to the original footprint” of about 150 feds on the ground, the border czar said, before warning that the outcome was contingent on local cooperation. 

“My goal was, with the support of President Trump, to achieve a complete drawdown. End the surge as soon as we can,” Homan said. “But that is largely contingent upon the end of the illegal and threatening activities against ICE.”

“We will not draw down on personnel providing security for our officers,” he added. “I will not let our officers be put at risk, so we will not draw down on personnel providing security and respond to hostile incidents.”

The drawdown order will not extend to the federal agents dispatched to Minnesota for a sweeping benefits fraud investigation, because “they’re going to finish their job,” Homan explained. 

Homan referenced plans last week to draw down personnel, but didn’t disclose a specific number or a timeline. Operation Metro Surge began in December in the wake of viral welfare fraud accusations that roiled the state and prompted Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to end his re-election bid.

At one point, there were roughly 3,000 federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, which has a police force of about 600 people, Mayor Jacob Frey claimed.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Homan’s announcement became possible after local officials agreed to “coordinate with ICE to transfer custody of criminal aliens upon their release.”

“This is one of the conditions President Trump set for a draw down,” Leavitt said in a statement. “These commitments have been made by local officials, and will continue to be monitored for compliance.”

After the shooting of Pretti, Trump put Homan in charge of immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota, and his administration has taken steps to ease tensions. 

One key change announced by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week was to have officers wear body cameras in Minneapolis. Homan confirmed Wednesday that all field agents would soon be subject to that requirement.

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“The plan is to deploy them nationwide, but it’s a priority for the city right now,” Homan explained. “There’s actually $20 million in the spending bill to further fund the deployment of body cameras. The president supported this decision because we have nothing to hide.”

In Congress, Democrats have demanded the use of bodycams as one of several reforms to immigration law enforcement they want to see in order to fund the Department of Homeland Security for the remainder of the fiscal year. DHS is currently running on a spending patch that expires Feb. 13, though Republicans have separately funded immigration enforcement operations for the next four years.

Another change Homan announced was the full integration of CBP and ICE personnel on the ground in Minnesota to better coordinate federal operations.  

“We have also fully integrated CBP personnel into the ICE ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations] team structure under one unified chain of command, not two chains,” Homan added. “Any large enforcement operation I’ve ever been involved with, there’s one chain of command.”