U.S. President Donald Trump said he is sending his “tough but fair” border czar, Tom Homan, to Minnesota, as the state faces unrest and deadly violence amid the administration’s massive surge of federal immigration enforcement agents—described as the largest such deployment in U.S. history—and a multibillion-dollar fraud scandal centered in Minnesota’s Somali community.
“He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there,” Trump said of Homan in a Monday morning post on Truth Social, announcing his move to Minnesota. “Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me.”
The decision appears to bypass DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who has been under mounting scrutiny following fatal confrontations in Minneapolis between federal agents and protesters. Homan is also seen by some as a potential rival to Noem’s influence inside the administration, though Noem publicly welcomed Trump’s decision.
Minnesota Clashes
Tensions have escalated as the state’s Democratic leadership and many residents accuse ICE of operating with extreme aggression while pursuing the Trump administration’s signature goal of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. Democratic officials are seeking legal action aimed at forcing ICE out of Minnesota and its cities.
Two deadly incidents have intensified the outrage:
- On Saturday, Alex Pretti, 37, a VA nurse, was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent during a physical confrontation in Minneapolis.
- Earlier in January, Renee Nicole Good, 37, was shot and killed by an ICE agent after she drove in his direction.
The Trump administration has defended both shootings as acts of self-defense. Critics argue that neither Pretti nor Good posed a genuine deadly threat and that the force used was unjustified. Videos circulating from both incidents have fueled sharply competing accounts of what happened.
A separate flashpoint emerged after a viral photo showed a five-year-old boy with federal agents who were pursuing his undocumented father. The administration denied the child was detained, saying the father fled and left the boy behind when agents arrived to arrest him.
Tom Homan’s Assignment in Minnesota
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Homan will oversee ICE operations in Minnesota “to continue arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.”
“In addition, Tom will coordinate with those leading investigations into the massive, widespread fraud that has resulted in billions of taxpayer dollars being stolen from law-abiding citizens in Minnesota,” Leavitt said on social media.
Democratic officials in Minnesota have acknowledged the fraud issue—an issue that grew during the party’s leadership of the state—but accuse Trump and his administration of inflaming hate and deepening divisions by casting suspicion on the broader Somali community for the actions of a small number of people. Trump has said he wants Somali immigrants to leave the U.S.
Noem praised the move.
“This is good news for peace, safety, and accountability in Minneapolis,” Noem wrote in a post on X.
“I have worked closely with Tom over the last year and he has been a major asset to our team—his experience and insight will help us in our wide-scale fraud investigations, which have robbed Americans, and will help us to remove even more public safety threats and violent criminal illegal aliens off the streets of Minneapolis.
“We continue to call on the leadership in Minnesota to allow for state and local partnership in our public safety mission.”
What Is a “Border Czar”?
“Border czar” is not a formal government position. It typically refers to a senior official appointed by the president to advise on and coordinate border security and immigration policy across multiple federal agencies.
Homan’s assignment to Minnesota, however, gives him a more direct operational role than is common for “czar”-type officials, placing him closer to day-to-day enforcement on the ground.
Homan previously held the border czar role in 2019 and was reappointed in 2025 at the start of Trump’s second term. Before that, he served as a senior ICE official during the Obama administration and remained with the agency when Trump took office. He has worked in federal immigration enforcement since the early 1980s.
Democrats Escalate Pressure After Pretti’s Death
Democratic senators are now threatening to block a DHS funding bill following Pretti’s death, increasing the chances of a partial government shutdown by the end of the week.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a social media post shortly after Saturday’s shooting that events in Minnesota are “appalling,” adding that Democrats “will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.”
In the House, a resolution to begin impeachment proceedings against Noem has gained support from more than 100 Democrats, though fewer Senate Democrats have publicly weighed in so far.
One who has is Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen, who called for Noem’s impeachment, saying she believes the DHS secretary is trying to “mislead the American public” about the shooting of Pretti.
Noem has said Pretti arrived to “impede a law enforcement operation,” and she characterized his actions as “domestic terrorism.”
“This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement,” Noem said Sunday.
Tim Walz Appeals to Americans
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz described people in the state as “peaceful” but “angry,” saying they “won’t give up hope” after Pretti’s death.
“To Americans who are watching this right now, and I don’t know, maybe you’re watching it with curiosity, bewilderment, horror, scorn, or sympathy—I’ve got a question for all of you,” Walz said at a news conference.
“What side do you want to be on? The side of an all-powerful federal government that can kill, injure, menace, and kidnap its citizens off the streets, or on the side of a nurse at the VA hospital who died bearing witness to such government?”
