DHS drawdown begins in Minnesota; 700 officers to leave immediately

White House border czar Tom Homan declared a victory of sorts in Minneapolis, saying the feds are now getting “unprecedented cooperation” from local communities and the Department of Homeland Security will remove 700 officers from the state.

He said about 2,000 will remain.

Mr. Homan said the drawdown, which he had teased last week, was made possible by the increased cooperation.

“This is smarter enforcement, not less enforcement,” Mr. Homan said.

He said his goal is still for a “complete drawdown” but said that’s “contingent” on the demonstrators who have been violently clashing with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officers.

But he said it’s not the retreat some have suggested.

“We are not surrendering the president’s mission on a mass deportation operation. If you’re in the country illegally, if we find you, we’ll deport you,” he said.

Mr. Homan said the federal government has had to keep a large contingent of personnel in Minnesota just to protect other officers from the community.

He was particularly troubled by roadblocks anti-ICE protesters set up in streets this week to try to hinder their deportation efforts.

“Stop impeding, stop interfering,” he said.

Mr. Homan said the idea to deploy body-worn cameras to all DHS personnel taking part in Operation Metro Surge grew out of his conversations with those on the ground.

Some officers did have cameras and others didn’t. He said that “inconsistency was unacceptable.” 

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Monday said the cameras will be rushed to the state, with a goal of a nationwide rollout later.

“We have nothing to hide,” Mr. Homan said.

President Trump deployed Mr. Homan to Minnesota late last month, displacing former Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino, who’d overseen the troubled surge and two killings of U.S. citizens in confrontations with ICE and CBP personnel.

Mr. Homan quickly moved to meet with state and local officials to try to calm things.

The result, he said, was promises of better cooperation in turning over people from state and local prisons and jails. He said that cooperation means fewer people are needed to go into communities and pick those people up.

Fewer officers in communities also means fewer chances for rank-and-file illegal immigrants without criminal records to get snared — though Mr. Homan said they are still here illegally and can be arrested.

The 2,000 officers that remain are well above the usual level of 150 personnel based out of Minneapolis.

“The more cooperation we get, the less rhetoric and hate we see and the less attacks means we can draw down even quicker. A lot of this has to do with the assistance from the community,” he said.

Mr. Homan said he considered the 2-month-old surge to be a success, though he said it was not “a perfect operation.”

The operation had netted some 3,500 arrests as of a week ago.

Mr. Homan ticked off some of those nabbed: 14 with homicide convictions, 139 with assault convictions, 87 sex offenders and 28 gang members.