Trump is using the chaos created in Minnesota to force local authorities to cooperate with ICE.

WashingtonHe border czar Donald Trump's chief of staff, Thomas Homan, whom the president sent to Minnesota to de-escalate tensions after the killing of two citizens by immigration agents, announced Thursday that he will reduce the number of federal agents on the ground. Currently, there are approximately 3,000 federal agents deployed in the Democratic state. the death of Renee Nicole GoodThe Department of Homeland Security decided to send 1,000 additional agents to reinforce Operation Metro Surge, which began in December. "We can do better," Homan said at a press conference in Minneapolis, assuring that he will now prioritize "targeted" arrests.

"We have made significant progress, significant coordination and cooperation, and you will see enormous changes taking place here in this city," he stated. border czarwho described as "productive" the meetings he had yesterday with Democratic Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, also a Democrat.

Forcing cooperation with ICE

Homan has been pushing for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to have greater access to Minnesota jails so they can make arrests. immigrants living in the country without papers when they are arrested by local authorities and then deported. "More officers in prison means fewer officers on the street," he said. The words of border czar These events coincide with one of the repeated demands from the White House to de-escalate the violence: that local and state authorities in Minnesota eventually give in and cooperate with ICE. It is precisely the lack of cooperation from state and local police forces with the federal immigration system that leads Minneapolis, and so many other Democratic cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, to be considered "sanctuary cities."

Since returning to power, one of Trump's major objectives has been to eliminate sanctuary cities as such. The deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles in June was a prime example. It was an exemplary punishment for all the others. Now, after the display of violence and paramilitary brutality by anti-immigration agents, and with the situation escalating to a near-untenable point, the president wants to force cooperation between local and state police and the immigration system as the least bad option. Despite the change in strategy, the rhetoric remains the same. Even so, Homan has accused protesters and residents of fueling the conflict in Minneapolis and has said that "the hostile rhetoric and dangerous, hateful threats" against immigration enforcement officers "must stop." According to Homan, this rhetoric has led to an increase in attacks against immigration agents and has forced the administration to send additional resources to Minnesota. However, the two people killed during the ICE deployment in the city were not federal agents, but citizens. Whatever the case, the Trump administration's anti-immigration police have left behind images of aggressive arrests with abusive practices that have circulated in recent days on social media and in the US press, sparking outrage in many sectors of the country.

An internal memo recently issued by a senior ICE official orders federal agents to refrain from any unnecessary communication or interaction with "agitators" to avoid "escalating the situation." The directive, seen by Reuters late Wednesday, also instructs ICE agents to only act against immigrants with a history of criminal charges or convictions, a change from previous tactics that included randomly stopping people on the street to demand documentary proof of legal residency or citizenship in the United States.