Governor Walz says Trump immigration crackdown in Minnesota may end within days
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said the state can expect to hear more in the next day or so.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said on Feb 10 that he expected the federal immigration crackdown by President Donald Trump’s administration in his state may end within days, after conversations with Trump administration officials.
Mr Trump’s crackdown has faced criticism from local officials and human rights groups over what they say is a violation of due process and legal rights.
Minnesota has also seen large-scale protests after federal immigration officers in January fatally shot US citizens Renee Good Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Mr Walz said he spoke on Feb 9 with Mr Trump’s border czar Tom Homan and on Feb 10 with the Republican leader’s chief of staff Susie Wiles.
“Minnesota has asked that this surge of folks leave. I spoke with Tom Homan yesterday. I spoke with Susie Wiles, the president’s chief of staff this morning,” Mr Walz said in a press briefing.
“We’re very much in a ‘trust but verify’ mode. But it’s my expectation – and we will hear more from them I think in the next day or so – that we are talking days, not weeks and months, of this occupation,” he said.
The Department of Homeland Security, of which the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is a part, referred questions to the White House, which did not respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration deployed about 3,000 federal immigration agents in Minnesota by the end of January and Mr Homan said last week about 700 would be withdrawn.
“It would be my hope that Mr Homan goes out before Feb 13 and announces that this thing is done, and they’re bringing (it) down and they’re bringing (it) down in days. That would be my expectation,” Mr Walz said.
Mr Trump has cast his actions as aiming to tackle fraud and improve domestic security.
Rights groups say the crackdown has created a fearful environment, particularly for minority communities like the Somali community in Minnesota that Trump administration officials have repeatedly attacked.
They also say Mr Trump has used isolated fraud cases as an excuse to target immigrants while dismissing Mr Trump’s ability to tackle fraud, citing pardons from the president to those who have faced fraud convictions in the past. REUTERS
