Homan Defends ICE Amid Judge’s Ruling

Customs officers in tactical gear during an operation — Photo: Belish / Shutterstock

A federal judge ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minnesota stopped people based on race — but the man who ran the operation says he never saw his agents act outside the rules.

Story Snapshot

Border Czar Tom Homan defended ICE’s Minneapolis crackdown in a CBS News interview, saying agents followed policy and that any mistakes were fixed.
A federal judge ruled that ICE adopted an unconstitutional policy of stopping people based on race or ethnicity, with 23 documented cases and 11 arrested without probable cause.
More than 4,000 people were arrested during the operation, but only 37% of ICE arrests nationwide in 2025 involved people with criminal convictions — down sharply from prior years.
Two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal agents during the crackdown, sparking protests and ongoing legal battles.

Homan Defends the Operation

Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s border czar, sat down with CBS News after the Minneapolis crackdown ended. He said he never witnessed ICE act outside its guidelines. “I have not seen ICE act outside of policy,” Homan told CBS News. He added that if agents broke the rules without his knowledge, there would be an investigation. He also admitted the operation was not flawless. “Things weren’t perfect. We addressed it. We fixed it,” he said.

Homan said the operation — called Operation Metro Surge — targeted the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area starting in December 2025. He declared it a success. “The Twin Cities of Minnesota in general are and will continue to be much safer,” he said at a press conference. Federal authorities reported more than 4,000 arrests during the sweeps. An internal memo reviewed by Reuters directed agents to focus only on immigrants with criminal histories and to avoid engaging with protesters.

A Federal Judge Saw It Differently

Federal Judge Eric Tostrud reached a very different conclusion. He ruled that ICE adopted a policy allowing agents to stop people based on race or ethnicity. The judge found 23 residents were subjected to illegal stops and 11 were arrested without probable cause. A database of sworn affidavits compiled by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also showed masked agents detaining U.S. citizens without warrants, ignoring identification, and pointing weapons at them.

A 186-page Human Rights Watch report backed up those findings. It alleged that federal agents stopped and detained thousands of people, with many arrests described as arbitrary and race-based. Reports also indicated that over 170 U.S. citizens were arrested and detained during the crackdown. Two U.S. citizens — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — were fatally shot by federal agents during the operation. Their deaths sparked widespread protests across the state.

A Pattern That Goes Beyond Minneapolis

The gap between what officials say and what the data shows is not new. Nationwide, just 37% of ICE arrests during Trump’s first 10 months back in 2025 involved people with criminal convictions. That figure was down from 52% during President Biden’s final year, 70% during Trump’s first term, and 79% during President Obama’s last year in office. Research shows that every time ICE arrest numbers spike, the share involving convicted criminals drops.

That trend matters for people on both sides of the debate. Conservatives who want criminals removed from communities have reason to ask whether surging arrest numbers actually deliver that result. Liberals concerned about civil liberties point to the same data as proof that enforcement sweeps up innocent people. What both sides can agree on is this: when the government makes big promises about who it is targeting, the public deserves clear, verified numbers — not just press conference statements. Right now, those verified numbers tell a more complicated story than either side wants to admit.