Donald Trump’s efforts to deploy militarized immigration agents in US cities may finally be reaching a reckoning as he faces widespread opposition across the US, dissenting lawmakers in his own party, and impending court rulings after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis.
While there is no sign the aggressive tactics used by immigration enforcement are coming to an end, the mayor of Minneapolis said the administration will begin to scale back the number of federal agents in Minneapolis starting on Tuesday, as the president and his team soften their harsh rhetoric about the incident.
Trump and Minnesota governor Tim Walz – an otherwise regular target of the president’s ire and ridicule – said they had a call to discuss the federal immigration surge on Monday morning, which the president described in positive terms.
“It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Walz’s office issued a statement that hinted at signs of a future de-escalation of the situation as well. It said the governor and the president had held a “productive” call where Trump “agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and working with the state in a more coordinated fashion on immigration enforcement regarding violent criminals”.
Later on Monday, Trump said he had a “very good telephone conversation” with Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, who has been sharply critical of the administration’s deployment: “Lots of progress is being made!”
In a statement, Frey said he conveyed to Trump that the current deployment, known as Operation Metro Surge, “needs to end”.
“The president agreed that the present situation cannot continue,” Frey said, adding: “Some federal agents will begin leaving the area tomorrow, and I will continue pushing for the rest involved in this operation to go.”
During a White House press briefing on Monday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt also struck a more conciliatory tone, calling Pretti’s death a “tragedy” and appearing to walk back previous comments from adviser Stephen Miller calling the intensive care nurse a “would-be-assassin”.
Trump said earlier on Monday that his administration was reviewing the shooting of Pretti in Minneapolis by a federal officer, and that he would send border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota. Frey said he planned to meet with Homan on Tuesday to “further discuss next steps”.
“Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Monday. In the same post, the president said Congress and the justice department were “looking” at Ilhan Omar, the Democratic Minnesota congresswoman who has been the target of much of Trump’s ire in his recent crackdown on the state.
A federal judge also heard arguments on Monday about whether to end the federal officer surge in Minneapolis, but a ruling was not expected imminently.
The Trump administration is facing criticism from all sides over the shootings and upscaled enforcement. The NRA attacked the suggestion by a Trump-appointed federal prosecutor that armed protest creates “a high likelihood” that federal agents “will be legally justified” to shoot protesters. Walz described comments from the homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, the senior border patrol leader Greg Bovino and other officials about the shooting as “lies”.
On Monday afternoon, the Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece by Walz, accusing federal officials of lying about Minnesota’s compliance with federal immigration efforts. “My state’s Corrections Department honors all immigration detainers,” he wrote.
According to multiple media reports, Bovino was expected to leave Minneapolis as DHS scales back its presence in the city this week.
In Minneapolis, Pretti’s death resonated with the thousands of people helping with rapid response and community aid. Outrage over Pretti’s killing drew some to protest, with a demonstration at a hotel overnight on Sunday bringing federal agents out of their rooms to shoot chemicals at protesters. A memorial for Pretti, filled with flowers, notes and candles, continues to grow on the site where he was gunned down.
Residents are not deterred by the violence, though they are shaken. They are still getting into their cars to follow and document ICE’s activities, and gathering food and supplies to distribute to the families sheltering at home in fear of deportation.
“Perhaps they want to make an example out of us. Perhaps they’re trying to break our spirit. Perhaps they’re just dug in,” the Minneapolis city council member Aisha Chughtai told the Guardian on Sunday. “This is a city that has this long history of resistance and of standing up for ourselves and each other. I think we will weather this.”
The widespread outrage is registering in Washington as a growing number of Republicans are pressing for a deeper investigation into federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after Pretti’s fatal shooting – a sign that the Trump administration’s accounting of events may face bipartisan scrutiny.
The Republican chair of the House homeland security committee, Andrew Garbarino, has sought testimony from leaders at ICE, Customs and Border Protection and US Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying “my top priority remains keeping Americans safe”, according to the Associated Press.
Other congressional Republicans have pressed for more information, including the Texas representative Michael McCaul and the senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Their statements, in addition to concern expressed from several Republican governors, reflects a party struggling with how to respond to federal agents’ killing of Pretti.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) almost immediately alleged Pretti had “violently resisted” officers, saying they fired “defensive shots”. Video evidence contradicts that account. Trump also shared an image of the pistol allegedly found on Pretti in a Truth Social post, writing: “This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!) and ready to go.”
Pretti was reportedly legally permitted to carry a gun. Widely circulated video of his shooting death does not appear to depict him holding a gun; it does show an officer reaching to Pretti’s lower back and stepping away with what appeared to be a pistol – and Pretti being subsequently shot to death.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the former House Republican from Georgia, posted in support of law enforcement, but defended the right to legally carry firearms. “I unapologetically believe in border security and deporting criminal illegal aliens and I support law enforcement. However, I also unapologetically support the 2nd amendment,” Greene wrote. “Legally carrying a firearm is not the same as brandishing a firearm.
She added: “I support American’s 1st and 4th amendment rights. There is nothing wrong with legally peacefully protesting and videoing.”
Democrats have vowed to withhold further funding from DHS unless a bill soon to come before the Senate is amended to include reforms that would restrict federal agents’ actions in their deportation surge.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said Democrats would not provide the necessary votes if DHS funding remained in the measure. A spokesperson for the Senate majority leader, John Thune, said DHS and other government funds would be voted on as a single package. Without a compromise, the government faces a partial shutdown at the end of January.
Meanwhile, Homan has been the subject of controversy and is unlikely to de-escalate the situation in Minnesota. Undercover FBI agents recorded him accepting $50,000 in cash in 2024 in exchange for promising future government contract help. Trump’s justice department closed the bribery investigation last year, citing insufficient evidence, which Democratic leaders have described as a cover-up.
The Guardian
About the Author
