US President Donald Trump has agreed to end his unprecedented and hotly protested deportation surge in Minnesota, with immigration enforcement agents to leave the state over the next week.
Under Operation Metro Surge, Trump had deployed about 3,000 armed immigration agents by late January to deport suspected illegal immigrants in Minnesota.
In separate incidents last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents fatally shot two US citizens in the state who had come out to protest or observe the agents.
The operation was condemned by Minnesota governor Tim Walz, and scores of residents who filled the streets of Minneapolis in protest.
Trump’s feud with Minnesota boiled over into one of the most fraught political crises he has faced in his presidency.
White House border czar Tom Homan said on Thursday that the operation would conclude, a rare retreat by the Trump administration that came after even fellow Republicans raised questions about the operation.
Recovery ‘starts now’
Promises of mass deportations fuelled Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, but support for his policies cooled as immigration officers were deployed in military-style gear on streets across the country, prompting massive protests.
A week ago, Homan announced that about 700 out of 3,000 immigration agents would be withdrawn.
Without giving precise numbers, he said on Thursday that many of the remaining agents deployed from other states would be sent home in the coming week, citing in part what he called “unprecedented” coordination with local law enforcement agencies in Minnesota.
Before the surge, about 150 immigration agents worked in Minnesota, according to the Trump administration.
“ICE will continue to identify, arrest and remove illegal aliens that pose a risk to public safety, like we’ve done for years and our officers will carry out those duties with professionalism, integrity and compassion, like we’ve done for years,” Homan said.
Trump has said the surge was in the interest of public safety, describing many migrants, in sweeping terms, as violent criminals or fraudsters. Walz and other Minnesotans said the sometimes-violent federal surge has degraded public safety, and impinged on the constitutional rights of both migrants and Americans.
“The long road to recovery starts now,” Walz said in a statement.
“The impact on our economy, our schools, and people’s lives won’t be reversed overnight. That work starts today.”
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