How sending ‘border czar’ to Minnesota could change immigration crackdown
President Donald Trump’s “border czar,” Tom Homan, is now leading Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota after agents shot and killed a second U.S. citizen on Saturday. Trump dispatched Homan as a growing number of officials — including some Republicans — called for investigations of ICE tactics in the state.
Trump announced on Truth Social Monday morning that Homan was arriving in the state Monday night and that he had previously “not been involved in that area.” In the post, Trump focused on the White House’s ongoing fraud investigation in Minnesota and didn’t write about ICE operations directly.
Homan will report directly to Trump — not to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who has overseen immigration crackdowns in Minnesota and elsewhere. Homan’s deployment is considered a rebuke of Noem’s performance, but she has denied tension with the president or other officials over the Minnesota ICE operation.
In a post on X, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Trump appointed Homan to manage ICE operations in Minnesota, saying he would “continue arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.”
Who is Tom Homan?
Homan has worked in both Trump administrations, overseeing major expansions in immigration arrests during the first. Following his win in November 2024, Trump designated Homan as his “border czar.” In this role, Homan once again oversaw immigration enforcement policy.
In 2025, Homan oversaw several immigration operations and was the early face of the administration’s immigration crackdown before Noem or senior Border Patrol official Greg Bovino.
Later in 2025, some began speculating whether Trump would replace Noem as head of DHS. She denied the rumors, saying she “will serve at the president’s pleasure.” Reports suggested some Trump officials considered her to lack seriousness and to be too focused on her political future.
Other reports have described a rift between Homan and senior Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski. According to News Nation, sources said Lewandowski, who works as Noem’s de facto chief of staff, has become the “shadow leader of DHS.”
This conflict has created uncertainty about who is actually in charge of immigration enforcement operations.
Reactions to Homan’s appointment
Trump posted on social media saying he had spoken to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz following the announcement of Homan’s new role. Trump said the call was positive and that he and the governor “seemed to be on a similar wavelength.”
“I told Governor Walz that I would have Tom Homan call him, and that what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession,” Trump wrote. “The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future.”
Trump also said Walz was “happy” that Homan was the new head of the operation. Straight Arrow News reached out to Walz’s office for comment.
“Even in Minnesota, Crime is way down,” Trump wrote, “but both Governor Walz and I want to make it better!”
Walz’s office released a statement following the phone call, saying it was a “productive” discussion. He said he argued for “impartial investigations” of both fatal shootings by ICE agents.
Walz said that Trump had agreed to speak to DHS officials about allowing Minnesota state investigators to conduct independent investigations into the shootings. Trump also agreed to discuss reducing the number of federal agents in the state, according to the statement.
“The President also 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,” Walz said in the statement.
Demonstrations following fatal shootings
Protests in Minnesota have increased following two fatal shootings by federal agents stationed there. On Jan. 7, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good. Noem claimed Good had tried to run agents over and the shooting was justified. However, videos from several angles disputed the government’s description of events.
Then on Saturday, agents killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, who worked as an ICU nurse at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. DHS said Pretti had approached agents with a gun and agents tried to disarm Pretti, but he resisted, and the agents fired “defensive shots.”
Again, several videos of the shooting and witnesses disputed DHS’s official statement. Videos and photos of the shooting show Pretti holding a phone and don’t show Pretti getting aggressive with officers. The clips show agents pepper-spraying Pretti as he tried to help a woman whom agents had pushed to the ground. They also show agents disarming Pretti, who was legally carrying a handgun in his back waistband. However, agents did not fire until after they disarmed Pretti.
Pretti had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, Minnesota officials said.
A new YouGov poll suggested that recent events regarding ICE have soured Americans’ views on them. According to the poll, 46% of Americans somewhat or strongly support abolishing ICE, while 41% somewhat or strongly oppose it.
The poll also found that 57% of respondents said they somewhat or strongly disapprove of the way ICE is handling its job. Only 37% approve of the job federal agents are doing.
Court hearing
Shortly after Trump announced he was sending Homan to oversee the Minnesota operations, a federal judge in Minneapolis heard arguments in a lawsuit seeking to bring the immigration crackdown to a halt, at least temporarily.
The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued the Department of Homeland Security after Good’s killing earlier this month.
A lawyer for the city of Minneapolis, Sara Lathrop, described the situation as “untenable,” telling the judge that the immigration enforcement surge is “so unprecedented, so intense, and it has created such an environment of fear.”
The lawsuit seeks to have the number of federal law enforcement agents in Minnesota restored to previous levels and to limit the scope of the crackdown.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez did not say when she would rule.
But “if I had a burner in front of the front burner,” she said, “this would be on it.”
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
