Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s point man on deportations and border security, on Thursday touted what he described as significant public safety gains from Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota.
He pushed back on critics as the effort winds down.
“Since I have been on the ground here in Minnesota, I have had the opportunity to assess progress of the surge operation,” Homan wrote on X, adding that officials worked to “deescalate the intense, unlawful, and dangerous situation that had unfolded.”
Homan earlier Thursday announced that the operation would conclude after President Donald Trump agreed with his proposal to wind it down.
Homan said Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s target list had been “significantly reduced” and that many public safety threats had been removed from local communities.
He also said federal officials achieved what he called an “unprecedented level of coordination” with counties to notify ICE before releasing criminal illegal aliens from jail, allowing federal agents to assume custody in a secure setting.
Homan further asserted that “unlawful agitator activity has notably decreased” and said state and local law enforcement had stepped up to shut down unlawful actions committed by agitators.
“The far left and extreme, organized agitator groups can try to spin this however they want, but these are the facts,” Homan wrote.
Homan took over leadership of Operation Metro Surge last month, replacing U.S. Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino as the official overseeing the effort.
The operation deployed more than 3,000 federal immigration personnel to Minnesota as part of the administration’s broader push to maintain border security and carry out large-scale deportations of illegal aliens.
Homan said officers and agents assigned to the surge will continue immigration enforcement operations in other locations across the country.
“I want to thank the dedicated, talented men and women of ICE and CBP who have worked tirelessly during this surge operation to enforce federal immigration laws and remove public safety threats from the streets of Minnesota,” he wrote. “Minnesota communities are safer as a result.”
He also thanked Trump for his “ongoing leadership and commitment to ensuring law and order, public safety, and prosperity for American communities,” adding that no president “has delivered more, or has done it better” on border security and immigration enforcement.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security said more than 4,000 illegal aliens, including many with violent criminal records, had been arrested since Operation Metro Surge began on Dec. 1.