By Nicholas Prejean
Trump’s new “border czar”, Tom Homan, has announced a “draw-down” of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in Minnesota. Homan stated that there would be “a significant draw down” of agents “was under way”. This announcement came following an announcement in January of the departure of 700 of nearly 3000 agents that left after the killings of Renee Good and Jacob Pretti.
Will the agents leave? There is some speculation that the departure of federal agents has to do with the expiration of funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at midnight on February 14, 2025. This is not accurate, as ICE specifically were allocated over 75 billion with the passing of the Big Beautiful Bill last year in July 2025. While a lapse in funding for DHS would affect thousands of workers, ICE would be unaffected by the lapse currently set to begin starting at midnight on February 14, 2026. Furthermore, ICE has repeated violated people’s constitutional rights by seizing people out of their homes and cars for following and filming them, or assaulting and killing people for simple protest.
Homan has remained vague of exact numbers and timelines, only that the “draw-down” will continue into next week. These are only vauge words that have been echoed by local politicians. Mainstream Minnesota politicians have expressed “cautious optimism” about the move. Minnesota governor Tim Walz called the move a step forward that will, “allow the state to move forward now”. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stated, “They thought they could break us, but a love for our neighbors and a resolve to endure can outlast an occupation.” Senator Amy Klobuchar, who announced she was running for governor in January 2026, stated “Minnesotans stood together, stared down ICE, and never blinked.”
What is needed now is not words. Americans need concrete actions. All agents involved in the murders need to be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If George Floyd’s killers could be arrested and convicted, the killers of Renee Good and Alex Pretti can too. The Constitution, Bill of Rights, Due Process, and Rule of Law must be honored and enforced. Politicians saying tough words for social media and engagement do nothing to solve the rise of fascism and misery of worsening conditions of the working class.
The Movement for People’s Democracy coalition calls for a full investigation into and prosecution of the murders committed in the streets and in ICE detention centers. MPD calls on the federal government to honor the Constitutional-guaranteed rights of all, and the defunding of a federal agency that is not even law enforcement acting outside its purview and mandate. The only way for the raids on communities to end is the formation of a mass anti-monopoly movement led by labor to rally the people and demand real change. Only then will the terror of rising fascism perpetuated by the Trump Regime and monopoly capitalism fall back.