The Trump administration has ordered the withdrawal of 700 immigration enforcement officers from Minnesota following intense protests, with plans to further reduce personnel to pre-December levels.
Foreign news agencies reported that the U.S. government under President Donald Trump will pull 700 immigration enforcement agents from Minnesota. These agents had been deployed as part of “Operation Metro Surge” in Minneapolis, which led to two U.S. citizen deaths and sparked nationwide protests.
Tom Homan, the Border Tsar and the highest-ranking border law enforcement official in the Trump administration, announced on Wednesday (4 Feb) that the withdrawal will begin immediately, including officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol.
Homan said 2,000 officers will remain, but his goal is to reduce the number of federal immigration agents in the city back to the levels seen before the operation started last December.
He also stated that the government is working to ensure all officers in Minnesota will be equipped with body cameras. The U.S. government has prioritized providing body cameras to all officers in Minneapolis and plans to expand this to agents nationwide.
Homan described the operation in Minneapolis as successful, despite several federal officers facing lawsuits, including incidents involving the deaths of Rene Good and Alex Pratte, who were fatally shot by federal agents.
He acknowledged the operation was not perfect but said it became more “agile” with a unified and clear chain of command. “It’s not that it was bad before, but we improved it,” he said.
Homan revealed that federal immigration officers arrested and detained “bad actors,” including 14 murder suspects, 139 assault cases, 87 sexual offenders, and 28 gang members.
Homan took over control of federal operations in Minneapolis at the end of January following the shooting of Mr. Pratte. He previously stated he would reduce the number of agents based on the level of cooperation from state and local authorities.
Homan confirmed to reporters that he is cutting the number of federal agents by about one-third after receiving an unprecedented level of cooperation from local officials.
Follow international news:https://www.thairath.co.th/news/foreign
Source:bbc