ICE After Minneapolis

"The event was tightly choreographed to project unity. Noem praised Homan, the White House "border czar" and her rival for control of the immigration crackdown. She sat beside the Homan ally Rodney Scott, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, whom she and her team have spent the past several months trying to sideline. Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement who has also seen his authority diminish under Noem, was there too, crediting her and the president."

"The one notably absent figure was Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol commander Noem sent storming into Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, and other cities, turning him into the face of the rolling crackdown. Bovino's agents killed Alex Pretti on January 24. Now Bovino was off the team, "a pretty out-there kind of guy," Trump called him, so thoroughly erased that no one at Noem's event even mentioned his name."

"It showed the administration's eagerness to shift attention to the border, where the president's harsh measures are popular, and away from Minneapolis, where they are not. Although it is too early to say whether Pretti's killing will mark a turning point in Trump's second administration, it has forced a pivot in his immigration team's tactics and command structure. Homan has ended roving street patrols and told ICE officers to go back to conducting more targeted, disciplined operations that prioritize catching criminals over raw arrest numbers."

Federal immigration officials staged a unified border appearance after Tom Homan announced a drawdown of forces in Minneapolis. Kristi Noem praised Homan, sat beside Customs and Border Protection commissioner Rodney Scott, and received public credit from acting ICE director Todd Lyons. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino was conspicuously absent after agents under his command killed Alex Pretti on January 24. The administration emphasized the drop in illegal crossings and shifted attention to the border. Pretti's killing prompted tactical and command changes: Homan ended roving street patrols and directed ICE to resume targeted, disciplined operations focused on catching criminals rather than maximizing arrest totals.

Read at The Atlantic