6 events in Passaic County with a date

Homan: MN ICE operation will end

Recent fatal shootings led for calls to end surge

By: Phaedra Trethan
Christopher Cann
Jeanine Santucci
and Bart Jansen
USA Today

..... The Trump administration said it is ending the controversial immigration operations in Minnesota hat sparked nationwide protests after federal agents shot and killed two U.S. tacitnesses in January. [2026]
..... White House border czar Tom Homan on February 12 [2026] said he has "proposed, and President Donald Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude."
..... He added, "A significant draw-down has already been underway this week [02/11/2026] and will continue through the next week." [02/20/2026]
.... Homan said he would remain in Minnesota to oversee the withdrawal, which he credited to "unprecedented" cooperation with state and local officials that broadened federal authorities' access to local jails. Homan also cited a decline in "unlawful agitator activity."
..... The move was no unexpected. A week earlier, [02/02/2026] Homan said 700 agents would withdraw form Minnesota. On February 10, [2026] Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he anticipated a complete draw-down before February 20, [2026] citing conversations with Homan and White House Che if of Staff Susie wiles.
..... However, Homan said February 12 [2026] that the administration was not "backing down" from its promise to mass deportations: "If you're in this country illegally, you're not off the table."
..... The announcement marked the end of what federal officials described as the largest immigration operations in modern U.S. history, which saw more 3,000 federal agents fan out across the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It also came as lawmakers on Capitol Hill pressed federal immigration officials on the Minnesota operations and the tactics federal agents are deploying nationwide.
..... Over less than three weeks, immigration agents in Minneapolis shot and killed Renee Nicole good, a mother of three, and Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, sparking protests nationwide and backlash against the Trump administrator, including from some Republicans.
..... At a news conference, Walz spoke of the operation in stark terms, calling it an invasion of "untrained, aggressive federal agents" that left the state with "generational trauma' and in "economic ruin."
..... He thanked Minnesotans for their "dignity' and "compassion," and said the state was focused on helping businesses that suffered during Operation Metro Surge.
..... Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement that the resistance to Immigration and Customs enforcement shown by demonstrators was "deeply American."
..... They thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endurance outlast an occupation," he said.
..... Frey said Minneapolis residents would now begin to rebuild after the "catastrophic" immigration operation.
..... Homan also said that during the surge in Minnesota, ICE officers located 3,364 "missing, unaccompanied alien children," which he accused the Biden administration of losing.
..... President Donald Trump and his administration have previously made similar claims that the Biden administration "lost" unaccompanied minors who crossed the border, or said children were placed with "unvetted" sponsors. Immigration advocates groups say such claims are incorrect.
..... That includes the nonprofit National Immigration Forum, which said accusations that large numbers are missing "are inaccurate and overblown." according to the group, children who arrive in the United States without a parent or guardian became the responsibility of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which searches for sponsors to care for them while they await court hearing on their mitigation cases. those sponsors are almost always family members, often parents who were already in the country, the organization said.
..... The Minnesota operation sparked fury among Democrats in Congress, who have vowed not to fund the Department of Homeland Security unless their demands for reforms are met, scudding requirements that agents wear identification badges, remove their masks and obtain judicial warrants before entering homes.
..... Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said body cameras would be distributed to every filed agent across the country, beginning with those in Minneapolis.
..... But Republicans have pushed back on several of the demands. especially that agents stop wearing masks, which they argue could expose federal personnel to doxing. As of this reporting, lawmakers didn't appear any closers to strikings a deal ahead of a February 13 [20226 deadline to fund the agency.
..... On the same day Homan announced the draw-down, the senate Homeland Security Committee argued over the Minnesota events.
..... Senators rolled moment by moment through the video of Pretti's killing with the leaders of immigration enforcement agencies to urge them to adopt new policies for dealing with protesters.
..... Senators Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, and Gary Peters, D-Michigan, described Pretti as holding a phone to record the encounter and shielding his eyes when he was sprayed at close range with chemicals. They said he never brandished a gun or struck federal agents.
..... "I see nothing here - not even a hint of something that was aggressive on his part," Paul said. "Everything was retreat."
..... Rodney Scott, commissioner of Customs and Border Patrol, and Todd Lyons, the acting head of ICE, said the incident was still being investigated by the FBI and its agencies. They said protesters should not be thrown to the ground or sprayed with chemicals in a strictly verbal confrontation.
..... However, "what I'm seeing is a subject who is not complying," Scott said. "He's fighting back nonstop."
..... Paul said America has lost trust in immigration enforcement and policies need to change to restore faith in the agencies.
..... "Some of this stuff is inexcusable," Paul said. "The public needs to know, too, if I go to a protests and I shout something at people, could I be killed?"
..... Sean tor Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, pushed back at Democrats. He said ICE officials had shots fired at them, had their vehicles rammed and had rocks thrown at them.

HOME