Trump's ICE agents withdraw from Minnesota anti-immigration deployment** Federal immigration agents are pulling out of Minnesota amid criticism. The move was announced by Trump's border enforcement

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Tom Homan, Donald Trump's "border czar," said on Thursday that a large number of federal immigration enforcement (ICE) agents were withdrawing from the state of Minnesota, adding that he had offered the U.S. president to end the massive deployment of these agents, which he accepted.

Some 3,000 masked and armed federal agents were recently deployed to Minnesota by the Trump administration to conduct anti-immigration raids, which led to tumultuous scenes in Minneapolis, the largest city in the Midwestern US state.

The anti-ICE protests gained momentum in Minneapolis and spread across the country in January after two fatal shootings in less than three weeks.

ICE agents shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old American woman, as she sat in her car observing a deployment of federal agents. Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old American nurse, was killed while on the ground during a confrontation between protesters and federal troops. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defended the agents' actions despite damning video evidence.

Faced with the outcry caused by these incidents, which some White House advisors believed could derail the federal administration's anti-immigration policy, Donald Trump said last month that he would appoint Tom Homan to head the ICE deployment in Minnesota.

"I proposed, and President Trump agreed, to end this operation," Tom Homan said at a press conference on Thursday. He had already announced last week the withdrawal of approximately 700 of the 3,000 federal agents deployed in the region.

The Republican president's "border czar" told reporters that a large number of federal agents still in Minnesota would be leaving the state in the coming week, as part of what he described as "unprecedented" coordination with local authorities. Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis are both run by Democrats, who have been highly critical of the Trump administration's operation.

No comment was immediately available from the office of Governor Tim Walz, who was the running mate of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the November 2024 presidential election won by Donald Trump.

Approximately 150 immigration agents were working in Minnesota before the start of the operation dubbed "Metro Surge".

The mayor of Minneapolis emphasized in a statement Thursday the catastrophic nature of this massive deployment of federal agents. "They thought they could break us, but love for our neighbors and unwavering determination can survive an occupation," Jacob Frey said in a statement welcoming Tom Homan's announcement.

Minnesota's top federal judge had reprimanded representatives of the Trump administration, stating that ICE had failed to comply with dozens of court orders for the release of wrongfully detained immigrants.

Some of Donald Trump's Republican peers have also criticized ICE's actions in Minnesota.

(Susan Heavey in Washington, Jonathan Allen in New York, with contributions from Helen Coster, Ted Hesson and Katharine Jackson; French version by Kate Entringer and Jean Terzian, edited by Tangi Salaün)