Tom Homan, President Donald Trump's point man for deportations and border security, arrived in Minneapolis with a series of demands, including for the state's Democratic leaders to turn over more illegal aliens held in the state's prisons and jails.
Homan is taking the helm of the administration's immigration enforcement efforts and fraud investigations in the troubled Democratic-run city.
He met Tuesday with Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, two Democrats who have been at odds with Trump over the administration's operations in the city, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Although the Journal did not list other demands, Trump included the top one among four outlined in a Truth Social post Sunday. The rest were:
- Have state and local law enforcement commit to turning illegal aliens over to federal authorities.
- Make local police help federal authorities track down and detain illegal aliens wanted for crimes.
- Partner with federal authorities to "protect American Citizens in the rapid removal of all Criminal Illegal Aliens in our Country."
"Tom Homan's arrival in Minnesota is an opportunity for a reset through the collaboration that President Trump has been pushing for between the federal government and state/local law enforcement," Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, a Republican running for governor, wrote Monday on X.
There were no immediate indications of an agreement to support the White House's immigration agenda, the Journal reported. Frey said he told Homan that the city wouldn't enforce federal immigration laws.
A person who attended one of Homan's meetings told the Journal he came across as a law enforcement figure who wanted to see less chaos in the streets. Homan made no specific promises but seemed eager to turn down the heat, the person added.
"We all agree that we need to support our law enforcement officers and get criminals off the streets," Homan wrote Tuesday on X. "While we don't agree on everything, these meetings were a productive starting point, and I look forward to more conversations with key stakeholders in the days ahead. President Trump has been clear: He wants American cities to be safe and secure for law-abiding residents — and they will be."
The state had been cooperating with federal immigration authorities by turning over illegal aliens who completed sentences for serious crimes, and ICE had been citing the transfers in daily news conferences, the Journal reported.
The administration wants a broader group of people, including illegal aliens in local and state jails who have not yet been tried.
Walz has said the premise of the demand is false.
"They're taking credit for people that we've had in jail for a long time," he told reporters Sunday. "We always hand them over."
Homan also met with Frey and Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara for about 30 minutes. Frey's office told the Journal it was a "productive conversation" and said Frey asked that the federal government's Operation Metro Surge be ended as quickly as possible.
O'Hara said ICE conducted several raids Monday, but that Tuesday had been relatively quiet, according to the Journal.
"Just a half-hour ago, there were people blowing whistles right outside the window here," he said, pointing to his window on the first floor of City Hall. "The jail is right across the street, so maybe they just grabbed somebody out of the jail."
On Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrests of 16 people tied to anti-ICE protests in the city.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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