OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
1:36 PM – Wednesday, February 4, 2026
Border Czar Tom Homan announced that the Trump administration will pull 700 federal immigration officers from Minnesota “effective immediately,” crediting “unprecedented cooperation” from local and county jails in alerting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents when inmates eligible for deportation are released from custody.
“I have announced, effective immediately, we will draw down 700 people — effective today — 700 law enforcement personnel,” Homan said during a press conference on Wednesday.
While Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and ICE officers will be removed from the state, roughly 2,000 personnel will remain, operating under a unified command structure through ICE.
“We have also fully integrated CBP personnel into the ICE team structure under one unified chain of command, not two chains of command. There’ll be one chain of command here,” Homan explained.
The border czar highlighted what he called “unprecedented cooperation” from local and county jails across Minnesota as the key factor enabling the immediate drawdown of 700 federal immigration law-enforcement personnel.
“We have made significant progress under the direction of President Trump working with state and local officials here in Minnesota and I expect that to increase in the coming weeks,” Homan reported.
“We currently have an unprecedented number of counties communicating with us, now and allowing ICE to take custody of illegal aliens before they hit the streets,” he continued. “Unprecedented cooperation.”
Homan explained that this cooperation dramatically increases efficiency, allowing just one or two officers to take custody of an incarcerated illegal immigrant, rather than sending eight to 10 officers into communities to track down and arrest a “public safety threat.”
“This frees up more officers to arrest and remove criminal aliens,” Homan said. “More officers taking custody of criminal aliens directly from the jails means less officers on the street doing criminal operations. This is smart law enforcement, not less law enforcement. It’s safer for the community, safer for the officers, and safer for the alien.”
“We’ve got to remember that we’ve got special agents on detail here doing the fraud investigation,” he said. “They’re not going anywhere. They’re going to finish their job.”
Federal immigration authorities reportedly now receive notifications from local Minnesota law enforcement before eligible inmates are released, allowing ICE to take custody efficiently. However, Homan emphasized that jails are not required to hold inmates past their scheduled release.
“We are not requiring jails to hold people past their normal release time,” he said, adding, “We’re not asking anyone to be an immigration officer.”
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