Watch: Border Czar Homan says federal forces will not withdraw from Minnesota until “cooperation”

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, said Thursday that the number of immigration enforcement officers in Minnesota will decrease only after state officials cooperate, and that he has zero tolerance for protesters who assault his officers or obstruct their work.

Watch Homan’s news conference in the video player above.

Homan spoke to reporters for the first time since the president sent him to Minneapolis after a federal immigration officer shot and killed a protester on Saturday.

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Homan doubled down on the need for local jails to alert ICE of people in their custody that ICE could remove from the country, and that transferring immigrants to ICE while they are in jail is safer for officers and means they won’t be out on the streets. That means fewer officers have to be out on the streets looking for immigrants in the country illegally, Homan said.

“Give us access to illegal aliens and public safety threats in the safety and security of the prison,” Homan said.

Homan acknowledged that Minnesota’s immigration enforcement operations were not perfect, but he also insisted that the administration would not abandon its mission.

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Homan also appears to suggest a renewed focus on what ICE calls “targeted operations” designed to focus its efforts on apprehending immigrants who have committed crimes. He said they would carry out “strategic targeted enforcement operations” while prioritizing “threats to public safety.”

He said he has zero tolerance for those who attack or obstruct law enforcement, referring to the protesters who flooded the city’s streets as “agitators.”

Homan did not give a specific timetable for how long he will spend in Minnesota.

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“I will stay until the problem is over,” he said, adding that he has met with elected officials and law enforcement leaders across the city and state, seeking common ground and suggesting he has made some progress.

Santana reported from Washington.