Tom Homan, Trump's Border Czar, Set for Minneapolis Visit Amid Shooting Probe Calls

President Donald Trump has announced that his border czar, Tom Homan, will travel to Minneapolis this week amid escalating tensions following the fatal shooting of an ICU nurse during an immigration enforcement operation. The Midwestern city has become the focal point of growing opposition to the administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown, with protests intensifying after video footage and eyewitness accounts appeared to contradict the government’s official version of events.

Homan’s visit comes as calls mount from both Republicans and Democrats for an independent investigation into federal immigration enforcement tactics. Scrutiny has increased after the Minneapolis shooting, which followed another fatal incident involving immigration agents in the city weeks earlier. Demonstrations have continued across Minneapolis, with community leaders and civil rights groups demanding accountability and transparency from federal authorities.

At 64, Homan brings decades of experience in border and immigration enforcement. He began his career in 1984 as a U.S. Border Patrol agent and later joined Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2003, when the agency was formed under the Department of Homeland Security. During the Obama administration, he led ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit, overseeing the tracking and deportation of individuals with final removal orders.

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Although closely aligned with Trump’s immigration agenda and openly critical of former President Joe Biden, Homan is viewed by some as more pragmatic than other hardline figures. He received a Presidential Rank Award in 2015 under Obama for his work at ICE and was persuaded to remain with the agency in 2017 at the request of then–Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, becoming a central figure throughout Trump’s first term.

Homan has consistently defended strict enforcement policies, arguing that immigration law should be applied uniformly. He has rejected criticism of family separations, stating that deportations follow due process and that families can be removed together. While he has promised what he once described as the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, he has also said enforcement would prioritize public safety and national security threats and be carried out in a “humane manner.”

Despite those assurances, recent reports, including from Minnesota, have highlighted arrests involving U.S. citizens, children, and people with legal immigration status, raising questions about enforcement practices. Homan has also faced past controversy, including a bribery investigation that was later dropped by the Justice Department, with the White House defending him against wrongdoing. As he arrives in Minneapolis, Homan is expected to confront mounting public anger and renewed debate over the scope and consequences of federal immigration enforcement.

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