President Donald Trump took credit for the decision to draw down Immigration and Customs Enforcement from Minnesota on Tuesday.
Trump sat down with NBC for the traditional presidential Super Bowl interview hours after his border czar, Tom Homan, announced from Minneapolis the administration’s plan to withdraw 700 federal immigration officers from the Twin Cities. The move came after Democratic state officials transferred criminal illegal aliens in their custody to their federal law enforcement counterparts for deportation.
“Yes, it did, but it didn’t come from me because I just wanted to do it. We are waiting for them to release prisoners, give us the murderers that they’re holding, and all of the bad people,” Trump said when asked if the drawdown was his decision. “We allowed in our country, I say, 25 million people with an open-border policy for four years under [former President Joe] 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.”
Homan was deployed to Minnesota after a second anti-ICE protester, Alex Pretti, was shot dead by Customs and Border Protection personnel last month. The move came amid concerns about the situation’s handling by Border Patrol commander at-large Greg Bovino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Another protester, Renee Good, was killed earlier in the year.
When asked what he had learned from his administration’s approach to Minnesota, Trump told NBC he had “learned that maybe we could use a little bit of a softer touch.”
“But you still have to be tough,” he said. “We’re dealing with really hard criminals. But look, I’ve called the people. I’ve called the governor. I’ve called the mayor. Spoke to ‘em. Had great conversations with them. And then I see them ranting and raving out there. Literally as though a call wasn’t made.”
During his press conference, Homan told reporters the 700-person drawdown included ICE and CBP officers.
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But during the same appearance, the border czar previewed that the federal takeover of the detained illegal immigrants will take some time.
“We currently have an unprecedented number of counties communicating with us now and allowing ICE to take custody of illegal aliens before they hit the streets, unprecedented cooperation,” Homan said.