Border Czar Tom Homan didn’t was blunt during a Wednesday press conference, announcing that 158 people have been arrested for trying to block U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
The surge of enforcement in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area follows a volatile month marked by the January shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, events that have turned the region into a focal point for national debate over immigration policy.
Homan revealed that many of those arrested are facing charges under 18 USC 111—a federal law that prohibits assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal officers. According to reports, a “rapid response network” in Minnesota had been active in tracking ICE vehicles and calling for protesters to physically intercept agents.
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While Homan acknowledged that the public has every right to report official misconduct through proper channels, he emphasized that “professional law enforcement officers should and need to be able to perform their sworn duties without being harassed.”
Beyond the arrests of protesters, the DHS surge has focused on removing high-priority targets. Homan noted that ICE has taken over 250 individuals into custody recently, including 14 people with homicide convictions, 87 with sex-offense convictions, and 28 documented gang members.
“We’re taking a lot of bad people off the street,” Homan told the press, arguing that the public safety benefits of the operation should be a point of common ground.
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The tension in Minnesota has been building since late last year.
Following reports of welfare fraud in the state, President Trump ended “Temporary Protected Status” for Somali nationals in November.
This move, combined with the federal surge, has met stiff resistance from local leadership. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey previously stated that city police would not cooperate with the federal operation, highlighting a deepening rift between local authorities and the White House over how to handle immigration enforcement in America’s Heartland.
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