--- title: Why is Trump sending Border Czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis? description: Trump is dispatching border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis amid a bipartisan outcry over the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti. canonical: https://time.com/7357864/trump-minneapolis-ice-border-czar/ author: Philip Wang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-01-26T17:38:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-01-26T19:18:20.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Sends Border Czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis og:description: Trump is dispatching border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis amid a bipartisan outcry over the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti. og:url: https://time.com/7357864/trump-minneapolis-ice-border-czar/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfffb0552d7156ba8/6998cd1c83ec37befcc7b488/GettyImages-2255654389.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6911 og:image:height: 3887 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-HOMAN og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Sends Border Czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis twitter:description: Trump is dispatching border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis amid a bipartisan outcry over the killing of ICU nurse Alex Pretti. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfffb0552d7156ba8/6998cd1c83ec37befcc7b488/GettyImages-2255654389.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Sending Border Czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis Amid Backlash Over ICE > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Philip Wang](https://time.com/author/philip-wang/)  ## Philip Wang Updated: Jan 26, 2026 7:18 PM UTCPublished: Jan 26, 2026 5:38 PM UTC  White House 'border czar' Tom Homan speaks to the press outside the West Wing on January 14, 2026. White House 'border czar' Tom Homan speaks to the press outside the West Wing on January 14, 2026. Oliver Contreras—AFP via Getty Images  by [Philip Wang](https://time.com/author/philip-wang/)  ## Philip Wang Updated: Jan 26, 2026 7:18 PM UTCPublished: Jan 26, 2026 5:38 PM UTC President Trump announced on Monday that he was dispatching border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis that evening, amid a [bipartisan outcr](https://time.com/7357837/republicans-call-for-investigation-minneapolis-fatal-shooting-ice-agents/)y over the fatal shooting of ICU nurse [Alex Pretti](https://time.com/7357687/alex-pretti-ice-minneapolis/) and signs that the Administration may be open to pulling back federal law enforcement efforts in the city. Homan, who served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during Trump’s first term, will report directly to Trump, according to Trump’s announcement on Truth Social. In another [post,](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115962378381121858) Trump said he has directed Homan to give Minnesota Governor Tim Walz a call, and the Administration is looking for “any and all Criminals” that the state has in possession. “The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future. He was happy that Tom Homan was going to Minnesota, and so am I!” Trump wrote. The tone of Trump's second post suggested a thawing in his relationship with Walz, after weeks of the two men publicly criticizing each other. In a similarly reconciliatory tone, Walz said in a statement that he and Trump would look into reducing the number of agents in Minnesota and work with the state in a “more coordinated fashion” during a “productive conversation.” Trump also agreed to talk to DHS to allow the state authority to conduct an independent investigation into the shooting of Pretti. Read more: [How a Partial Government Shutdown Over ICE Would Impact Immigration Enforcement](https://time.com/7357762/government-shutdown-ice-alex-pretti-explainer/) The White House tells _TIME_ in a statement that Homan would be managing ICE operations on the ground in Minnesota and coordinating with others on ongoing fraud investigations. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during the press briefing that Homan will be the “main point of contact on the ground in Minneapolis,” while Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino will remain in charge of Customs and Border Protection. The news comes as Trump has been less quick to defend the agents involved in the Pretti shooting than high-ranking Administration officials. In an interview on Sunday with the [Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-says-administration-is-reviewing-everything-about-minneapolis-shooting-a501f48e?gaa%5Fat=eafs&gaa%5Fn=AWEtsqdvjpHGfD8pkEJnuaEbU5mOtOpOu0WnGZ8VvUPFk0Vb5pY4hmgPu-Bz3HnjeEQ%3D&gaa%5Fts=69776b8f&gaa%5Fsig=fm0Z5UPYtLh-zmj-nL1O9uYFggFaOkq6GDrrcYqwSwrk23LtOfNAX6osnEQGFEVPZO1eUYAJXOB%5FSgNvNo3RHg%3D%3D), Trump declined to say whether the federal agents who shot Pretti acted appropriately, only saying the administration is investigating the matter. “We're looking, we're reviewing everything and will come out with a determination,” Trump said. The Administration is scrambling to contain the fallout from Minneapolis, where Pretti’s death was the second high-profile killing by federal agents in just over two weeks, and comes amid other confrontations that have drawn outrage. On Wednesday, two ICE agents were [pictured](https://x.com/StarTribune/status/2014478051908673925?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2014478051908673925%7Ctwgr%5E94b4fd486d033130f2a224d5ce9ff4b1a99e0d86%7Ctwcon%5Es1%5F&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediaite.com%2Fmedia%2Fnews%2Flocal-minnesota-paper-runs-front-page-pic-of-ice-agent-pepper-spraying-face-of-protester-pinned-to-the-ground%2F) aiming a canister of pepper at a protester’s face while he was pinned down. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the incident “should alarm every American.” Tens of thousands of protesters flooded the streets over the weekend to protest against the federal agents’ presence in the Twin Cities, as the legality of the deployment of federal agents is contested in court. On Monday, a federal judge is hearing arguments on whether the immigration operation in Minnesota violates the Constitution. The judge will then deliberate whether the operation should be halted, at least temporarily. Up through Pretti’s death this weekend, Bovino was and seen as the face of the immigration operations in Minnesota. On Sunday, Bovino doubled down on his defense of officers who shot Pretti, telling [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/25/politics/gregory-bovino-minneapolis-immigration-crackdown) that the officers are the victims of the incident, and that Pretti, who was legally carrying a firearm, was not entitled to the Second Amendment rights. “Those rights don’t count when you riot and assault, delay, obstruct and impede law enforcement officers and, most especially, when you mean to do that beforehand,” he says. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7357864/trump-minneapolis-ice-border-czar/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7357864/trump-minneapolis-ice-border-czar/"},"headline":"Trump Sending Border Czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis Amid Backlash Over ICE","datePublished":"2026-01-26T17:38:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-26T19:18:20.000Z","description":"The move come amid a bipartisan outcry over Alex Pretti's death","url":"https://time.com/7357864/trump-minneapolis-ice-border-czar/","keywords":["Trump Administration","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfffb0552d7156ba8/6998cd1c83ec37befcc7b488/GettyImages-2255654389.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Wang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/philip-wang/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfffb0552d7156ba8/6998cd1c83ec37befcc7b488/GettyImages-2255654389.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-HOMAN","caption":"US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-HOMAN","creditText":"Oliver Contreras—AFP via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7357864/trump-minneapolis-ice-border-czar/","name":"Trump Sending Border Czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis Amid Backlash Over ICE"}}]}] ```