Amid a shakeup in how the Trump administration will handle immigration enforcement, President Donald Trump announced earlier this week that Border Czar Tom Homan would take over the operation in Minnesota. He replaces Homeland Security Kristi Noem and U.S. Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino.
Homan’s Presser
Homan is now on the ground in Minnesota, where he addressed reporters for the first time on Thursday. He admitted the federal approach “hasn’t been perfect” thus far and said he has staff from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) “woking on a drawdown plan” for the area.
The law enforcement veteran said he had not asked Minnesota state and local officials to be involved in immigration enforcement but rather “to be cops working with cops to help us take criminal aliens off the street.” He did, however, share that a sit-down with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison yielded what he called a new agreement that may allow ICE to arrest illegal immigrants in county jails.
“I’m also pleased to announce I had a very good meeting with Attorney General Ellison, and he has clarified for me that county jails may notify ICE of the release dates of public safety risks so ICE can take custody of them upon the release from the jail,” Homan told reporters. “All we want is to talk to the person that local and state law enforcement authorities locked in a jail cell… When we have these agreements, it takes less law enforcement agents to do the job. One agent can arrest one bad guy in the safety and security of a jail where he’s behind the wire.”
In a statement, Ellison called the meeting “cordial” but stopped short of signaling any kind of corporation. While Mr. Homan and I agree no Minnesotan wants actual violent criminals on our streets, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status, I firmly expressed to him that right now, Minnesotans’ foremost concern for their and their neighbors’ safety is the overwhelming presence and brutal tactics of federal immigration agents on those streets that are disrupting everyday life in our communities and doing harm to our neighbors,” he said.
Homan suggested there will be an overall shift in strategy, in which federal immigration officials will return to conducting targeted operations against illegals, with a priority on those with serious criminal histories. That would mark a change from the more roving patrols of late.
Megyn’s Take
While Megyn has expressed her support of Homan and calls him her favorite administration official, she is concerned the new strategy amounts to bending the knee to the agitators who have been causing chaos in Minneapolis and beyond. On Thursday’s show, she explained her concerns:
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,241 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.