By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

The Trump administration will remove 700 federal agents who are assisting immigration enforcement measures in Minnesota, White House Border Czar Tom Homan said Wednesday.

Homan said during a news conference that a “mix” of Custom and Border Protection and ICE officers would be removed from Minnesota. He estimated around 2,000 federal agents would remain in Minnesota.

“We want to get back to the original footprint, the Minnesota footprint, of what ICE offices looked like before this operation,” Homan said. He added about 150 agents in Minnesota is a typical level of operations.

Homan said the withdrawal of officers is due to the “unprecedented collaboration” between federal, state and local officials. He also said federal agents should return to their homes in other parts of the country to enforce immigration laws. Homan clarified that special agents investigating fraud scandals in the state will stay put.

On Dec. 4, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent 2,000 federal agents to the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area as part of operation Metro Surge, an effort for increased immigration enforcement in the cities. Since the initial enforcement, reports have estimated as many as 2,000 federal agents have been deployed across Minnesota.

“We are not asking any state or local official to do immigration enforcement activity,” Homan said.

Homan added that federal agents are engaging in “targeted enforcement operations.” He said this means agents will specifically be operating on reasonable suspicion to question and detain individuals.

Homan also announced the establishment of a joint operations center to manage immigration enforcement.

“This reorganization also enables ICE to leverage joint intelligence capabilities to effectively target threats as well as to reduce the overall personal footprint and enhance public safety and confidence in the agency’s capabilities and presence here,” Homan said.

Homan called on protestors in Minneapolis to stop their activities across the state.

“Stop impeding, stop interfering, stop violating the law, because we will arrest you,” Homan said.