President Trump has said he’s ordered hundreds of immigration officers to leave Minnesota – although around 2,000 will remain in the state.
The pullback comes amid fury over the deaths of two protesters in altercations with federal officials.
The president’s border czar, Tom Homan, announced the move on Wednesday and said about 700 would leave the state immediately after local officials agreed to hand over arrested immigrants.
Renee Good and Alex Pretti were shot dead in separate incidents last month in Minneapolis, Minnesota’s biggest city, as they protested against the actions of masked agents ordered in by the Trump administration.
Local officials have attacked heavy-handed tactics that have seen ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officers grab some people off the street and have made it clear they want them out.
President Trump confirmed to Sky’s US partner, NBC News, he had approved the order to cut numbers, adding: “But it didn’t come from me because I just wanted to do it.
“We have – we are waiting for them to release prisoners, give us the murderers that they’re holding and all of the bad people, drug dealers, all of the bad people.”
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Mr Trump added: “We allowed in our country, I say, 25 million people with an open-border policy for four years under Biden, and that group the autopen group, I call them.
“We allowed to come into our country people the likes of which no country would accept. And we’re getting ’em out.”
However, Mr Trump also continued a recent slight softening in some of his language, telling NBC News “maybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch – but you still have to be tough”.
Minnesota governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey said the cut in numbers was a start – but that the whole operation needed to end quickly.
“We need a faster and larger drawdown of forces, state-led investigations into the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and an end to this campaign of retribution,” the Democrat governor posted on social media.
Such a hope currently looks unrealistic however.
In his announcement on Wednesday, border chief Mr Homan stressed the effort to remove illegal aliens would continue at pace.
“Let me be clear, President Trump fully intends to achieve mass deportations during this administration, and immigration enforcement actions will continue every day throughout this country,” he said.
Vice president JD Vance also said the officers being pulled out were mainly protecting those carrying out arrests.
“We’re not drawing down the immigration enforcement,” he said in an interview on The Megyn Kelly Show.
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The operation in Minnesota – Operation Metro Surge – ramped up in January as President Trump looked to fulfill election promises to deport illegal immigrants and people without proper documentation.
ICE, part of the Department of Homeland Security, have also been deployed in cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago, where their presence has also attracted anger from officials and significant protests.
