(Minneapolis) Donald Trump’s special envoy in Minneapolis reported Thursday the American president’s desire to continue anti-immigration operations, but also to sanction agents who do not respect the rules in their interventions.
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Tom Homan, who arrived on site at the start of the week, made his first public intervention while the metropolis in the northern United States, emblem of the government’s anti-immigration policy, remains in shock over the death of two Americans shot dead by federal agents.
Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, was killed on Saturday by members of the Border Patrol (CBP), while Renee Good, a mother of the same age, was killed on January 7 by an immigration enforcement agent (ICE).
“We will make sure to carry out targeted control operations and I repeat: we are in no way renouncing our mission. We’re just doing it in a smarter way,” Tom Homan said at a press conference.
“The safety of the population is essential,” he insisted, noting that the president admitted the need for “certain improvements” in the operations of federal agencies. If agents do not act professionally, “they will be treated like any other federal agency.” We have standards of conduct. »
The city of Minneapolis, Minnesota
INFOGRAPHICS THE PRESS
“Soon” reduced workforce
The two officers involved in Alex Pretti’s death have already been suspended. A “standard” procedure, according to a CBP spokesperson to AFP.
Donald Trump shows no desire to end – or even really change – his policy of mass expulsions.
His emissary promised to continue the “dialogue” with local officials, but justified the Republican administration’s policy by declaring that the country was experiencing “the most secure border” in its history.
After deploying 3,000 police officers responsible for the fight against illegal immigration in this Democratic city in the Midwest, the Trump administration will “soon” reduce the workforce, Mr. Homan promised, without further details.
The American president, after having mentioned a “small de-escalation” in Minneapolis, resumed his incendiary rhetoric on Wednesday against his Democratic mayor Jacob Frey, who declared that he “would not apply federal laws” on immigration.
PHOTO ADAM GRAY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
People gather at a vigil at the site where Alex Pretti was shot and killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, January 28, 2026.
“Could someone (…) explain to him that this statement constitutes a very serious violation of the law and that he is PLAYING WITH FIRE,” Mr. Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
The hunt for undocumented immigrants “has nothing to do with security or (…) with immigration. This is political retaliation and this should worry (…) everyone in America,” the councilor replied.
“Violation of court orders”
In Washington, this deployment could trigger a federal budgetary paralysis at the end of the week.
The Democratic camp wants to impose more restrictions on the Trump government in its immigration policy, even if it means going as far as a partial shutdown of public finances.
PHOTO SETH HERALD, REUTERS
Protesters hold signs during a demonstration against the presence of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 28, 2026.
The standoff also continues in court. A federal judge in Minnesota has banned the detention of refugees who still lack permanent resident status but are living there legally.
And in a separate filing, another federal judge found it “likely that ICE violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies in their entire existence.”
On site, the fear of raids mobilizes citizens who take to the streets to flush out the federal police officers.
“Kidnapped from the Street”
“I have the impression that the crimes committed against the residents of Minneapolis have reached such a level that we will never be the same again,” assured AFP Dylan Alverson, owner of a solidarity café.
“We don’t see anything changing on the ground, people are still being kidnapped in the street,” regrets Jennifer Arnold, 39, at the head of a support network to take migrant children to school.
On Tuesday, Minnesota Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar, one of Donald Trump’s favorite targets, was attacked by a man with a syringe filled with an unidentified foul-smelling liquid. The FBI took over the investigation. CNN, citing police sources, says it was probably cider vinegar.
Videos analyzed by AFP and other media have discredited the thesis initially defended by the American administration, according to which Alex Pretti, who legally carried a weapon, threatened the police.
In a new video broadcast by several American channels and which could not immediately be authenticated by AFP, we see him during a violent altercation with federal agents, including kicking a vehicle, more than a week before his death.
