Donald Trump’s border tsar, Tom Homan, met the mayor of Minneapolis and the governor of Minnesota in a show of detente, as the White House – facing mounting political pressure – sought to ease the unrest that has gripped the city after two US citizens were shot dead by federal agents.
The move to put Homan in charge of the immigration operation in Minneapolis in place of Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, who sources said is leaving after having led most of Trump’s crackdowns in Democratic-led cities, is part of a broader reset by the president to soften his administration’s aggressive tactics.
Some advisers are concerned that Saturday’s killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, which sparked national outrage, could derail Trump’s immigration agenda.
Homan’s job in Minneapolis is to ‘recalibrate tactics’ and improve co-operation with state and local officials, a source with ties to the White House said.
“The goal is to scale back, eventually pull out,” the source added.
A senior Trump administration official said Homan would move away from the broad, public neighbourhood sweeps that Bovino had conducted in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and other cities and adopt a more traditional targeted approach.
In a statement, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he had reiterated to Homan his request that the enforcement action, known as Operation Metro Surge, ‘come to an end as quickly as possible’, and that city leaders would remain in touch with Homan. The 30-minute meeting also included the city’s police chief.
In a separate meeting with Homan, Governor Tim Walz said he had outlined the state’s priorities, including impartial investigations into the two shootings and a reduction in the 3,000-strong force of federal agents deployed to the city. Homan and Walz agreed to “continue working toward those goals,” the governor said.
The discussions included reducing the number of agents in Minnesota, recalibrating the mission to focus more narrowly on deportations and exploring greater co-ordination with state authorities. Trump also weighed whether immigration officers should be required to have body-worn cameras, as many police officers do, according to the White House official.
The President held a two-hour meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in the Oval Office after Noem asked to meet, a source briefed on the matter confirmed.
The typically combative Trump has also struck a more conciliatory tone in public remarks. He characterised private conversations with both Walz and Frey as productive, while the two Democratic leaders offered similarly positive comments, a far cry from the vitriol the sides had previously exchanged.
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