Tom Homan, often dubbed the ‘border czar,’ told reporters that during the surge operation Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested more than 4,000 illegal aliens in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
And he said as a result of their efforts Minnesota is now less of a sanctuary state for alien criminals.
Homan made it clear that while Operation Metro Surge is concluded, ICE is still going to have a presence in the Twin Cities.
That is “to ensure that agitator activity continues to decline and that state and local law enforcement continue to respond to ensure officer and community safety. Enforcement of Title 8 is not going to end. If you're in this country illegally, you're not off the table, and I think we're proving that if you look at the data."
Title 8 of the United States Code is the federal legal framework governing immigration and nationality in the U.S. It encompasses statutes passed by Congress that regulate who may enter, reside in, or become a citizen of the United States.
Art Arthur is a resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies.
"ICE has an office in Minneapolis. The officers and agents in the Minneapolis office will continue to carry out their activities and their duties in much the same way as they always have. Now it appears that ICE is going to focus its attention somewhere else where it won't see the diminishing returns that it's going to see from continuing to utilize those resources in Minnesota."
Homan says he plans to stay in Minnesota to oversee the drawdown.
He announced last week that 700 federal officers would leave Minnesota immediately, but that still left more than 2,000 on Minnesota’s streets. Homan said Thursday that the drawdown began this week and will continue next week.
