ICE in Minnesota: Homan says feds will withdraw 700 officers effective immediately

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Citing "unprecedented" cooperation, Border Czar Tom Homan says the White House will withdraw 700 federal officers from Minnesota effective immediately.

Cooperating with ICE

What we know:

Homan announced Wednesday morning that 700 federal officers will leave Minnesota effective immediately. Homan says the officers leaving the state will be a mix of ICE, Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection agents.

Homan's news conference comes the day after news broke about a potential legal agreement that would allow individual counties in Minnesota to honor ICE detainers without judicial warrants and hold inmates for up to 48 additional hours. Homan previously said cooperation with state and local officials would be required prior to a drawdown of immigration officials in Minnesota.

Speaking Wednesday morning, Homan said negotiations with local authorities have gone well in recent days. "We have made significant progress under the direction of President Trump, working with state and local officials here in Minnesota, and I expect that to increase in the coming weeks. We continue to have discussions. I'll have discussions this afternoon. We currently have an unprecedented number of counties communicating with us now and allowing Ice to take custody of illegal aliens before they hit the streets.

By the numbers:

Homan says that the recent drawdown will put the federal headcount in the Twin Cities at around 2,000 officers. Prior to Operation Metro Surge, there were about 150 federal officers.

But, Homan indicated there would still be an elevated headcount in Minnesota for some time due to a specialized detail to target fraud.

What's next:

Homan says his goal is to end the surge entirely but, as he's stated previously, that's dependent on cooperation from local authorities. He also made it clear that he leave federal officers in danger.

"I will not let our officers be put at risk, so we will not draw down on personnel providing security and responding to hostile incidents," said Homan. "Until we see a change and what's happening with the lawlessness of repeating and interfering and assaulting of ICE and Border Patrol officers."

To further those ends, Homan called on local leaders to calm tensions with protest groups that oppose ICE.