Editorial: Putting Homan in charge of ICE in Minn. chance for reset

Boston Herald, Boston Herald on Jan 28, 2026

Published in Op Eds

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Kristi Noem may have to fall on her sword, but a major reset of how ICE operations in Minneapolis are conducted is the best way to get the country back on track in terms of enforcing immigration law.

The White House said Monday that border czar Tom Homan will oversee Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota and head to Minneapolis after immigration officers shot and killed a second U.S. citizen protesting enforcement operations, Politico reported.

Posting on Truth Social Monday, Trump wrote, “Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me.”

Homan should have been the point person from the get-go, as he led ICE during Trump’s first administration, and supports deportations targeting illegal immigrants with criminal records. Noem is reportedly more interested in the number of arrests and deportations.

This end-run around Homeland Security Secretary Noem is critical, as the two shooting deaths of U.S. citizens took place under her watch. Protests against ICE agents have turned confrontational, violent, and have been recorded on citizens’ cell phone videos.

The videos have made the rounds on the internet, television, and have clearly been viewed in the halls of Congress. More than two dozen congressional Republicans have called for a thorough investigation of the shooting of Alex Pretti, according to a count by ABC News.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune issued a statement on Monday that did not directly address the shooting but applauded the White House dispatching Homan to Minnesota in hopes of “turning down the temperature,” while encouraging Minnesota officials to work with the Trump administration in getting “dangerous criminals off America’s streets,” ABC News reported.

The mandate of getting “dangerous criminals” off our streets has been overshadowed by the outrage over the two shooting deaths by ICE agents and the arrest and detention of U.S. citizens. That ICE agents are masked and sometimes in plain clothes has also raised concerns. Such actions only fan the flames of resistance for resistance’s sake. Trump was branded a fascist by the left before he took office, now the rhetoric against him and ICE agents includes the terms Nazi and Gestapo. And illegal immigrants who commit crimes are now just part of the community that needs protecting.

New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez weighed in, of course, on CNN: “But at the end of the day, under this so-called excuse of border security, where Minneapolis is over 300 miles from the United States border, we have an unleashing of federal agents and violence…”

A state doesn’t have to be on the Southern Border to be affected by illegal immigration.

In a surprising move, Trump and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke by phone Monday, without rancor.

“Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Who saw that coming?

As the New York Post reported, Walz and Trump have traded verbal blows after the president ordered ICE agents to Minneapolis to arrest illegal immigrants last month.

Trump said he and Walz will speak again.

“Both Governor Walz and I want to make it better!,” he declared.

America wants, and needs, you to make it better, Mr. President.