Tom Homan takes brutal shot at Kristi Noem as Trump border czar pulls 700 agents out of Minneapolis
By Jon Michael Raasch
Daily Mail
Feb 4, 2026
White House 'border czar' Tom Homan speaks during a press conference at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Wednesday
Border Czar Tom Homan has taken a swipe at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as he announced the Trump administration is pulling 700 federal agents out of Minnesota.
Homan conceded that Noem's immigration crackdown had not been a 'perfect operation' at a news conference in Minneapolis on Wednesday after the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
Noem's longtime rival Homan was parachuted into Minneapolis last week after the Homeland chief infuriated Donald Trump when she parroted White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller's claim that Pretti was a 'domestic terrorist.'
Homan thanked Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey as he announced a deal with the Democratic leaders to deport illegal immigrants from local jails, meaning fewer federal agents will be required on the streets to make arrests.
'Effective immediately, we will draw down 700 people, effective today, 700 law enforcement personnel,' Homan said.
It comes after Vice President JD Vance denied the suggestion that Trump was backing down from his mass deportation pledge in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail on Tuesday.
'We're not moving back on anything. We're just trying to actually encourage cooperation so that we get a little bit less chaos,' Vance told the Mail.
Operation Metro Surge has seen 3,000 additional immigration officers sent to the northern state. It has yielded thousands of immigrant arrests but also resulted in the deaths of two Americans who confronted law enforcement officers.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller are seen during a roundtable event at the White House touting efforts on crime and immigration made by his administration on Oct. 23, 2025
Sherrif's officers keep an eye on protesters blocking the entrance to the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 30
The number of immigration officers would be closer to 2,000 after the draw down, Homan said. Before Operation Metro Surge began there were around 150 immigration officers in the state.
The Daily Mail embedded with ICE for two ride-alongs this week in which officials shared how difficult it can be to apprehend aliens in the field rather than in a controlled setting like a prison or jail.
On those ride-alongs teams of nearly a dozen agents patrolled the city for criminal alien offenders looking for the perfect time to apprehend.
After two days of ride-alongs, the Daily Mail only witnessed the arrest of two aliens, underscoring how operations in the field take significant time and money for any single arrest.
Following the shootings of Good and Pretti, protests erupted around Minnesota and across the US.
Agitators furious with ICE operations have set up road blocks in the city to scan for immigration agents in an attempt to deny them access to certain neighborhoods being targeted by raids.
Homan was dispatched to the state shortly after Pretti's death at the hands of two Border Patrol agents, taking over from Noem.
The Homeland Security Secretary frustrated Trump when she branded Pretti a 'domestic terrorist' in the immediate aftermath of his death.
Officers grapple with Alex Pretti moments before he was shot dead in Minneapolis on January 24
Pretti's death came just weeks after Renee Good, 37, was shot dead by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis
The President called Governor Walz last week in an effort to smooth relations.
Local leaders have accused the Trump administration of fueling unrest with heavy-handed tactics, while the federal government says the Democrats are obstructing its immigration enforcement operation.
In his announcement, Homan on Wednesday shared that since his arrival there has been 'unprecedented cooperation' between local Minnesota leaders and ICE.
'We currently have an unprecedented number of counties communicating with us now and allowing ICE to take custody of illegal aliens before they hit the streets,' Homan said.
Allowing ICE agents to apprehend criminal noncitizens from jails 'requires only one or two officers to assume custody of criminal alien target, rather than eight or 10 officers going into the community and arresting that public safety threat.'
'This frees up more officers to arrest or remove criminal aliens. More officers taking custody of criminal aliens directly from the jails. Means less officers on the street doing criminal operations.'
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