Trump's border czar Homan says ICE agents could be pulled back from Minneapolis if local officials cooperate

US President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has said that the administration would withdraw ICE agents from Minneapolis if local officials cooperate with them, days after two US citizens were fatally shot in the city.

Speaking at a press conference, Homan said that the anti-immigration operation in Minnesota would continue, adding that he wants “common sense cooperation that allows us to draw down on the number of people we have here”.

“We are not surrendering our mission at all. We’re just doing it smarter,” Homan said.

From the killings of two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, to the detention of a five-year-old boy, ICE has been in full swing in the state, triggering massive outrage, with many protestors braving the icy cold weather conditions to demonstrate against the deployment of agents.

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Meanwhile, Homan was neither clear about how many officials would be pulled out from Minneapolis, nor when. “President Trump wants this fixed, and I’m going to fix it,” he said.

‘De-escalate’

Trump, earlier this week, said that he will “de-escalate” the situation in Minnesota.

Speaking to Fox News, Trump hailed the efforts by ICE in the state, saying that “we took thousands of hardened criminals out of Minnesota.” He later went on to praise his border czar, Tom Homan, whom he sent to oversee on-the-ground operations.

“We have Tom Homan there now. We put him in there, he’s great. And they met with the governor, the mayor, everybody else. … We’re going to de-escalate a little bit,” he said.

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‘Can’t walk with guns’

Addressing the media outside the White House, Trump confirmed that Department of Homeland Security Chief Krisit Noem will not be stepping down from her position.

Trump also addressed remarks made by his deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, who called Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old nurse killed by federal immigration agents on Saturday, an “assassin.”

“No,” Trump said when asked if he agreed with Miller’s description. “That being said, you can’t have guns, you  can’t walk in with guns, you can’t do that. It’s a very unfortunate incident.”

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