(Minneapolis) Donald Trump’s special envoy to Minneapolis promised Thursday to “soon” reduce the number of immigration police deployed in the city, while repeating the American president’s desire to continue anti-migrant operations there which have caused a wave of emotion in the United States.
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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 north of the United States, which has become the emblem of the anti-immigration policy of the Trump government, remains in shock over the deaths of two Americans shot dead by federal agents.
Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, was killed by members of the Border Patrol (CBP) on Saturday. Renee Good, a mother of the same age, was killed less than three weeks earlier, on January 7, by an immigration enforcement agent (ICE).
Some 3,000 agents responsible for the fight against illegal immigration have been dispatched to this Democratic city in the Midwest, but the Trump administration will “soon” scale back, Tom Homan promised at a press conference, without giving other details.
The city of Minneapolis, Minnesota
INFOGRAPHICS THE PRESS
“We will make sure to carry out targeted control operations and I repeat: we are in no way renouncing our mission. We are simply conducting it in a more intelligent way,” he nevertheless insisted.
“Improvements” needed
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.
“We’ll believe it when we see it.” This administration has proven time and time again that it is only lying to us,” responded to AFP Steven Gagner, a 41-year-old jewelry designer, member of a citizen network which reports and films ICE interventions in his neighborhood.
His experience on the ground makes him say that they “have intensified in the last three days compared to the previous three”.
The presence of these masked federal agents amounts to an “invasion against our democracy,” blasted Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Thursday, whom Donald Trump had accused the day before of “playing with fire.”
PHOTO ANNABELLE GORDON, REUTERS
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey
“The safety of the population is essential,” Tom Homan insisted earlier, noting that the American president admitted the need for “certain improvements” in operations. If agents do not act professionally, “they will be treated like any other federal agency.” We have standards of conduct,” he added, contrasting with the promises of impunity repeated at the start of the operations.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday called on the American authorities to “restraint” to “avoid demonstrators paying for their commitment with their lives”, during a press conference in New York.
The two agents involved in the death of Alex Pretti have already been suspended in the wake of the tragedy. A “standard” procedure, a CBP spokesperson told AFP.
PHOTO BRIAN SNYDER, REUTERS
People gather at a memorial to Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, USA.
Donald Trump, for his part, shows no sign of changing his plan for mass expulsions.
His emissary promised to continue the “dialogue” with local officials, but at the same time praised “the most secure border” in the history of the United States.
“Never the same again”
In Washington, the events in Minneapolis could trigger a federal budgetary paralysis at the end of the week.
The Democratic camp wants to impose more restrictions on the Trump government and its anti-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 on Wednesday banned the detention of refugees without permanent resident status but legally residing in the state of Minnesota.
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.”
Maine Senator Susan Collins assured X on Thursday that ICE, which launched an operation a few days ago in this northeastern state, had suspended its activities there.
Concerning the death of Alex Pretti, a new video broadcast by several American channels and which could not immediately be authenticated by AFP, emerged on Wednesday. We see him during a violent altercation with federal agents, including kicking a vehicle. It was more than a week before his death.
