HOMAN OUTLINES DEMANDS FOR A ROLLBACK

Pulling agents out of Minnesota depends on state 'cooperation,' he says in a visit.

- BY JENNY JARVIE

BORDER security advisor Tom Homan suggested it could be a while before federal agents leave Minneapolis.

President Trump's border policy advisor, Tom Homan, said Thursday that federal authorities would wind down immigration crackdowns in Minnesota only if agents were given access to jails to seize undocumented immigrants for deportation.

Speaking to reporters publicly for the first time since arriving in Minnesota on Monday after federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens during immigration operations, Homan suggested it could be a while before the Trump administration pulls agents out of Minneapolis.

“The withdrawal of law enforcement resources here is dependent upon cooperation,” Homan said Thursday. “As we see that cooperation happen, then the redeployment will happen.”

Homan, whom Trump deployed to Minnesota this week to bring down the political temperature after Border Patrol agents fatally shot Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street, said the federal government was not backing down from its aggressive immigration agenda.

“We are not surrendering our mission at all,” he said. “We are not surrendering the president’s mission of immigration enforcement. Let’s make that clear.”

Homan’s focus on jails is not a new position for the Trump administration. He and other senior officials have long argued they would not be targeting immigrants in communities in Democratic-led cities if local officials allowed federal immigration officers access to their jails.

On Saturday, the day federal immigration agents shot Pretti, U.S. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi sent a letter to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz saying he could “bring an end to the chaos” in his state by, among other things, repealing “sanctuary city” policies and allowing federal agents into local jails.