“Operation Metro Surge is ending” White House border czar says in Minnesota

Tom Homan, the White House border czar, announced plans to conclude the Trump administration’s heightened immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, dubbed “Operation Metro Surge”.

The announcement came during a press conference held Thursday morning at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, located just outside Minneapolis city limits near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The area outside the building has been the site of ongoing protests against ICE due to the use of the facility by federal agents tied to the enforcement operation.

Homan stated “I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that this surge operation conclude. A significant drawdown has already been under way this week and will continue through the next week.”

The operation, which first began in December, resulted in over 4,000 arrests, according to a statement earlier this month by the White House.

Homan said officers drawing down from the operation “will either return to their duty stations or be assigned elsewhere”.

The operation sparked mass protests against ICE and in support of immigrants in Minnesota, with demonstrators taking to the streets for marches, confrontations with federal agents, “noise demo” protests outside hotels believed to be housing ICE, and other forms of resistance to Trump administration’s actions related to immigration enforcement.

Watch video of Tom Homan’s Thursday morning announcement here: