Border czar Tom Homan announced Wednesday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will immediately draw down 700 ICE and other immigration agents and place Customs and Border Protection officers under a single, unified command structure with ICE.
"I have announced, effective immediately, we will draw down 700 people — effective today — 700 law enforcement personnel," Homan said at a press conference airing live on Newsmax and Newsmax2.
"We have also fully integrated CBP personnel into the ICE team structure under one unified chain of command, not two chains of command. There'll be one chain of command here."
Homan said the staffing reduction is possible because of what he described as unprecedented cooperation from local and county jails in Minnesota, which are increasingly notifying ICE before inmates are released.
That coordination allows federal agents to take custody inside secure facilities rather than making arrests in the community.
"That requires one or two officers instead of eight or 10 going into neighborhoods," Homan said. He described the approach as more efficient and safer for the public, law enforcement officers, and detainees.
Homan said after the 700 agents are pulled out, that will leave about 2,000 remaining.
The pre-operation footprint, he said, is approximately 150 people.
"We've got to remember that we've got special agents on detail here doing the fraud investigation," he said. "They're not going anywhere. They're going to finish their job."
The drawdown does not include personnel assigned to officer safety and security, said Homan, and he warned that any further reductions would depend on an end to what he called assaults, interference, and threats against ICE and Border Patrol agents.
"We will not draw down on personnel providing security for our officers," Homan said, adding that federal authorities would continue to respond aggressively to hostile incidents.
Homan credited the shift to increased coordination with state and local officials, including county sheriffs and jail administrators, and said that cooperation has expanded significantly in recent weeks.
"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," Homan said.
He emphasized that local agencies are not being asked to hold inmates beyond their scheduled release times or to enforce immigration law themselves.
"We are not requiring jails to hold people past their normal release time," he said, adding, "We're not asking anyone to be an immigration officer."
Under the revised approach, ICE agents assume custody at jails immediately upon release, a move Homan said reduces public safety risks and allows federal officers to focus on high-priority targets.
Homan said the effort is part of the Trump administration's broader immigration enforcement strategy, which prioritizes public safety and national security threats while continuing to enforce immigration laws nationwide.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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