Trump Sends Border Czar Homan To Minneapolis Amid Shooting Scrutiny

The White House said Monday that border czar Tom Homan will oversee Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota and head to Minneapolis after immigration officers shot and killed a second U.S. citizen protesting enforcement operations.

President Donald Trump said in a social media post Monday that Homan “has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there.”

The president added: “Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me”

In a separate post, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said that Homan “will be managing ICE operations on the ground in Minnesota to continue arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.”

Homan’s role will also see him coordinate with investigations into alleged graft by charities in Minneapolis with ties to the state’s large Somali diaspora, per Leavitt.

The move to send Homan, a career immigration agent who led ICE during the first Trump administration, suggests a shift in strategy. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has focused on raw numbers of deportations, placing Border Patrol at the helm of operations traditionally led by ICE.

Homan, meanwhile, has backed a more targeted approach to deportations focusing on detaining and removing unauthorized immigrants with criminal records.

It comes as public scrutiny has grown in the wake of the Saturday shooting of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti by immigration officers in Minneapolis. The Department of Homeland Security and other top officials in the Trump administration rushed to blame Pretti for the shooting, arguing that Pretti was carrying a weapon and that officers were justified in using deadly force against Pretti. But videos circulating on social media do not show Pretti brandishing the weapon, and Pretti was also licensed to carry a weapon consistent with Minnesota law.

Trump distanced himself from the shooting in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Sunday. He said the administration is investigating the incident and declined to immediately say whether the officers followed protocol.

“We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination,” Trump said.

Conservatives have been voicing frustration with DHS and Noem following the shooting. Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee have asked for leadership of ICE, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to appear before them and answer questions from lawmakers.

Some immigration hawks also quickly praised the move to send Homan to Minneapolis.

“There is no one who understands deportations better than Tom Homan. This is a great announcement from the White House,” said Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.).

Past tensions with Homan notwithstanding, Noem publicly praised the move Monday, saying Homan "has been a major asset to our team — his experience and insight will help us in our wide-scale fraud investigations, which have robbed Americans, and will help us to remove even more public safety threats and violent criminal illegal aliens off the streets of Minneapolis."