The end is near for the Trump administration’s “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota. After more than 4,000 arrests, many of the thousands of ICE and Border Patrol personnel sent to the Twin Cities from other areas of the country will soon return to their home offices, White House border czar Tom Homan announced Thursday. Homan came to the decision with the support of President Donald Trump after seeing “success” with the operation, which has led to a significant drop in criminal illegal immigrants roaming the streets, “unprecedented levels of coordination” from local officials, and a decrease in anti-ICE agitator activity, he said. It also resulted in federal authorities tracking down 3,364 missing migrant kids who previously crossed the border alone. “I have proposed, and President Trump has concurred, that the surge operation conclude,” Homan said during a press conference in Minneapolis. But it doesn’t mean the Trump administration is backing down from its goal of carrying out a historic mass deportation campaign, he said. It also doesn’t mean ICE is leaving for good. “A significant drawdown has already been underway this week and will continue through the next week,” Homan said. “We have a lot of work to do across this country to remove public safety risks who shouldn’t even be in this country and to deliver on President Trump’s promise for strong border security and mass deportation. Law enforcement officers drawn down from this operation will either return to the duty station or be assigned elsewhere to achieve just that.” BREAKING: HOMAN announces that he and Trump have agreed to end ICE’s ‘Operation Metro Surge’ In Minnesota ICE will still have a “footprint” in the Twin Cities that will include teams to prioritize arresting criminal illegal immigrants and violent agitators pic.twitter.com/DOzHmoXbJk — Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) February 12, 2026 “For those who say we are backing down from immigration enforcement or mass deportations, you are simply wrong, look at the data,” he said. While the drawdown continues, “a small footprint of personnel will remain” temporarily “to close out and transition full command and control back to the” local ICE office. That includes teams deployed to quell street violence and agents investigating fraud. Homan also said he’s directed the “strategic” placement of officers near local jails in Minnesota to ensure they’re able to swiftly receive illegal immigrants that local authorities must release. “Federal government personnel assigned to conduct criminal investigations into the agitators, as well as the personnel assigned for the fraud investigations, will remain in place until the work is done. I will also remain on the ground for a little longer to oversee the drawdown of this operation and ensure its success,” Homan said. Trump sent Homan to Minneapolis last month to assume control over the operation, replacing Border Patrol’s Gregory Bovino. Bovino was known for his showy operations, where he waltzed around the Twin Cities flanked by burly federal agents and conducted aggressive roving patrols. Homan came in and changed all of that, instructing federal agents to prioritize hardened criminals before nabbing anyone whose sole crime is being in the country illegally. The former ICE chief, however, made clear from the start that it didn’t mean that illegal immigrants without rap sheets were off the table. Homan passionately emphasized that point during Thursday’s presser. “I hear all the hate about you should arrest everybody. We are, but we’re prioritizing those who are the biggest threat to our community, the rapist, the murderers, the child molesters. That’s the right thing to do, but I’ll say it again. Present Trump made a promise of mass deportation, and that’s what this country’s gonna get,” Homan said. “If you’re in this country illegally, you’re not off the table,” he said.