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Trump sends border czar Homan to Minnesota

President Trump said border czar Tom Homan will head to Minnesota to oversee ICE operations after federal agents shot and killed a 37-year-old ICU nurse on Saturday. CBS News immigration reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez has more.
Jan 26 (03:29)

TRANSCRIPT FOR: “BREAKING DOWN TRUMP'S DECISION TO SEND BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN TO MINNESOTA”

MUGO ODIGWE:
00:00:00

We continue to follow developments on the federal crackdown happening in Minneapolis, Minnesota. An investigation is now underway after a federal agent shot and killed another Minneapolis resident over the weekend. That victim is Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse. It is the second deadly incident there in a matter of weeks involving immigration agents. President Trump says he's sending Border Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota today. So let's go live to CBS News Immigration and Politics Reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez. Camilo, thanks for joining us today. What else can you tell us about Homan's role on the ground in Minneapolis? Good morning, Mugo. President Trump says that Border Czar Tom Homan at the White House will now oversee ICE operations in the Minneapolis region. Of course, as you know, there are currently 3,000 federal immigration agents in that part of the country from Border Patrol and ICE that are undertaking the largest operation in the history of the Department of Homeland Security, triggering, as you know, a lot of local backlash, especially after fatal shootings like the ones we saw over the weekend. The president says importantly, Mugo, that Homan will be reporting directly to him, and that is significant for many reasons. It's been an open secret for some time that Homan has been effectively sidelined by officials like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at the Department of Homeland Security and has not really had a major and critical role in shaping and setting federal immigration policy under the second Trump administration. There's also been a lot of friction and tension between Homan and Noem over the direction of Border Patrol and ICE and how they're implementing the president's massive crackdown on illegal immigration. So it is telling that now the president is choosing to have Homan go to Minneapolis instead of somebody like Noem. That is critically important. I should also underscore, Mugo, that Homan was a top administration official at ICE during the Obama administration. So he has some experience dealing and working with Democratic officials, including at the local and state level. So that could be an opening for some dialogue, at the very least, some compromise between local officials and federal officials over this aggressive deportation crackdown that is taking place there. Yeah, and Camilo, you have some insight on how some DHS officials are responding to top Trump officials' actions after the shooting. What can you tell us about that? Well, just to level set, Mugo, right after the shooting of Alex Pretti, the Department of Homeland Security and top officials like Secretary Noem and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino made sweeping categorical statements about the deadly incident. The Department of Homeland Security said Border Patrol fired defensive shots. Noem said that Pretti intended to kill and inflict maximum damage. Border Patrol Commander Bovino said that Pretti was going to massacre federal agents. I am told all of those statements are causing a lot of angst, frustration, and anger at the Department of Homeland Security. One official at the department importantly told me, Mugo, "When we gaslight and contradict what the public can plainly see with their own eyes, we lose all credibility, and it's going to damage our reputation for generations." So there are a lot of people, I am told, in the Department of Homeland Security who strongly disagree with the statements that people like Noem and others are making about this shooting. OK, Camilo Montoya-Galvez.

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