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Tom Homan, the border czar appointed by President Donald Trump to crack down on illegal immigration, believes the administration may still deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in other sanctuary cities as federal agents wind down their presence in Minnesota.
Homan said he thinks that possibility depends entirely on whether cities with policies shielding illegal immigrants decide to cooperate with federal immigration efforts.
“I think it depends on the situation,” Homan said in an interview with CBS on Sunday. “I’ve said from day one that, you know, we need to flood the zone and sanctuary cities with additional agents. The number of agents depends on the situation on the ground [and] how many known criminal targets are out there.”
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Homan’s comments come as the administration looks to redirect its immigration enforcement goals while, at the same time, taking its focus off of Minneapolis by ending Operation Metro Surge.
Several cities voiced opposition to Trump’s immigration crackdown from the outset of his second term, making it an official position of obstructing the administration’s work.
In some cases, cities limited their partnerships with ICE by denying them access to holding facilities, refusing to share intelligence, or instructing local law enforcement to disregard their operations.
Minneapolis was one of them.
But the Twin Cities began to draw special attention from Trump and Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem last year when links surfaced between the state’s Somali immigrant community and as much as $9 billion in state benefits fraud.
In response, the administration began deploying a heavy ICE presence to Minneapolis as part of Operation Metro Surge and framed it as a way to push back on illegal alien criminals in the city. In its first press release on the operation, DHS revealed that ICE had arrested five Somalis and six Hispanic aliens with criminal backgrounds.
“Today, ICE announced they have arrested some of the worst criminal illegal aliens, including child sex offenders, domestic abusers and violent gang members during Operation Metro Surge,” DHS said in a statement on Dec. 4.
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ICE’s presence in Minneapolis soon became a lightning rod for Trump’s crackdown on immigration, sparking widespread protests and alarm from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
In particular, Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee alongside Kamala Harris, blasted what he saw as a lack of communication with local authorities and use of excessive force.
“The forcefulness, lack of communication and unlawful practices displayed by your agents will not be tolerated in Minnesota,” Walz said in a letter to Noem in December.
Operation Metro Surge ended last week in the wake of two deadly confrontations between immigration enforcement and civilians that brought renewed scrutiny on DHS and also derailed congressional considerations for the agency’s 2026 funding, thrusting it into a partial shutdown on Friday.
Despite the administration’s tensions in Minnesota, Homan believes officials in sanctuary cities can avoid future clashes by steering clear of repeating Minneapolis’ policies.
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“I’m hoping other sanctuary cities look at what happened in Minnesota,” Homan said.
He believes there’s still room for agreement even amid heightened criticisms of ICE.
“A lot of politicians are out there on the left [are] saying ‘OK, ICE, we agree. You should be focusing on public safety threats. You should focus on illegal aliens who have committed serious crimes in this country,’”
Homan did not describe what cities might be a focus for future ICE operations.
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