Since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities has become the stage for an internal fight over how to carry out federal deportation efforts—between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, two agencies frequently working in overlapping roles. On Wednesday, White House border czar Tom Homan announced changes in Minnesota that he said would align the operation under ICE, describing the shift as an effort to streamline command and enforce what he called compliance with rules.
Homan said the administration is now consolidating Minnesota operations under ICE’s enforcement and removal operations unit, following months of internal grumbling and infighting among agencies about tactics. The announcement came as Homan and the Trump administration faced growing political and public scrutiny of immigration enforcement nationwide, with congressional Democrats pressing to rein in the agencies’ approach and Homan signaling that the change is meant to reduce friction while maintaining enforcement momentum.
Homan framed the operational change in Minneapolis as a move toward coordination rather than a change in the goal of removals. He said, at a news conference, that the administration “made this operation more streamlined and we established a unified chain of command, so everybody knows what everybody’s doing,” and he added, “In targeted enforcement operations, we go out there. There needs to be a plan.” The emphasis on “targeted enforcement” is a recurring element of how Homan described the approach, contrasting it with broader sweeps that had become more common under Border Patrol direction in places including Los Angeles, Chicago and Minnesota, according to the report.
The internal tensions have stemmed from differences in mission and tactics between the agencies, according to current and former Department of Homeland Security officials cited by the Associated Press. ICE, which since 2003 has conducted street arrests through what it calls “targeted enforcement,” has often emphasized narrowly tailored operations built around specific individuals. Border Patrol, by contrast, has been increasingly used for interior enforcement in ways that include faster, high-visibility street operations, officials and former officials said.
Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official reassigned from Minneapolis last week, was described as an influential figure in the expansion of the Border Patrol’s role in interior enforcement. In a separate interview cited by the report, Bovino embraced a strategy characterized as fast, street-level sweeps with a heavy show of force. The report also cited former ICE officials describing frustration with that approach, including Darius Reeves, who retired in May as head of ICE’s enforcement and removal operations in Baltimore, who said in an interview that “Every time you place Border Patrol into interior enforcement the wheels are going to come off.”
The report linked the leadership shift to the administration’s broader goal of mass deportations, and also said it highlighted a deeper dynamic: ICE officials have sometimes blamed Border Patrol’s street tactics for chaos, while other officials said ICE gets blamed for Border Patrol methods used on joint operations. The Associated Press report quoted Michael Fisher, the chief of Border Patrol from 2010 to 2015, as saying that his former agency’s tactics aligned with the Republican administration’s goal of deporting millions who entered the United States while Joe Biden was president. Fisher also said Border Patrol personnel are equipped for environments that involve arresting large numbers quickly and that ICE agents “typically aren’t geared,” “don’t have the equipment,” and “don’t have the training” for those situations.
In the background of the leadership changes was a spike in public attention after federal officers killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota, one connected to ICE and another connected to Customs and Border Protection, according to the report. The Associated Press said Trump sent Homan to Minnesota last week to de-escalate tensions after those shootings, which also fueled disagreements within and beyond DHS about enforcement practices.
The Associated Press also reported that the agencies’ friction included different assessments of controversial enforcement methods. It said an ICE officer fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, and that Trump administration officials said she tried to run over an officer with her vehicle—an account state and local officials rejected. The report further said ICE has asserted authority to forcibly enter a person’s home to make arrests without a judge’s warrant, describing it as among controversial tactics, while noting that ICE’s traditional approach involves investigation and surveillance before arrest.
Homan’s consolidation did not eliminate day-to-day tensions, the report said. While ICE still had a significant presence in Minneapolis after Bovino’s departure, the Associated Press reported that there were fewer CBP convoys in the Twin Cities area, but that disagreements persisted. On Thursday, the Associated Press said it observed an ICE officer in an unmarked vehicle tail a car and then pull over its driver, only to appear to realize the driver was not the target; the report said the officers told the driver “You’re good” after scanning his face with their phones before driving off, leaving the driver baffled and furious.
DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin dismissed the idea of agency conflict, saying, “There is only page: The President’s page. Everyone’s on the same page.” She also described the operation as coordinated, saying, “This is one team, and we have one fight to secure the homeland. President Trump has a brilliant, tenacious team led by Secretary (Kristi) Noem to deliver on the American people’s mandate to remove criminal illegal aliens from this country.”