by Curtis Yee, Bernald Mhee and Luena Rodriguez-Feo Vileira
The Trump administration is ending the immigration crackdown in Minnesota that led to thousands of arrests, violent protests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens over the past two months, border czar Tom Homan said Thursday.
The operation called the Department of Homeland Security’s “largest immigration enforcement operation ever” has been a flashpoint in the debate over President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, flaring up after Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed by federal officers in Minneapolis.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation focused on the Minneapolis-St. Paul area resulted in more than 4,000 arrests, Homan said, touting it as a success.
“The surge is leaving Minnesota safer,” he said. “I’ll say it again, it’s less of a sanctuary state for criminals.”
The announcement comes as a new AP-NORC poll found that most U.S. adults say Trump’s immigration policies have gone too far. Still, Trump’s border czar pledged Thursday that immigration enforcement won’t end when the Minnesota operation is over.
