{"id":1405106,"date":"2026-02-06T13:37:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/?p=1405106&preview=true&preview_id=1405106"},"modified":"2026-02-06T13:48:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:48:53","slug":"ice-tactics-agency-friction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/06\/ice-tactics-agency-friction\/","title":{"rendered":"Leadership changes in Minnesota follow tensions among agencies over immigration enforcement tactics"},"content":{"rendered":"

By REBECCA SANTANA and ELLIOT SPAGAT<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 White House border czar Tom Homan\u2019s announcement that enforcement in Minnesota was being unified under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement followed months of internal grumbling and infighting among agencies about how to carry out President Donald Trump\u2019s mass deportation campaign.<\/p>\n\n

Since it was created in 2003, ICE has conducted street arrests through \u201ctargeted enforcement.\u201d Homan uses that phrase repeatedly to describe narrowly tailored operations with specific, individual targets, in contrast to the broad sweeps that had become more common under Border Patrol direction in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minnesota and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

It is unclear how the agency friction may have influenced the leadership shift. But the change shines a light on how the two main agencies behind Trump\u2019s centerpiece deportation agenda have at times clashed over styles and tactics.<\/p>\n

The switch comes at a time when support for ICE is sliding, with a growing number of<\/a> Americans saying the agency has become too aggressive. In Congress, the Department of Homeland Security is increasingly under attack<\/a> by Democrats who want to rein in immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

While declaring the Twin Cities operation a success, Homan on Wednesday acknowledged that it was imperfect and said consolidating operations under ICE\u2019s enforcement and removal operations unit was an effort toward \u201cmaking sure we follow the rules.\u201d Trump sent the former acting ICE director<\/a> to Minnesota last week to de-escalate tensions after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal immigration officers \u2014 one with ICE and the other with Customs and Border Protection.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made this operation more streamlined and we established a unified chain of command, so everybody knows what everybody\u2019s doing,\u201d Homan said at a news conference in Minneapolis. \u201cIn targeted enforcement operations, we go out there. There needs to be a plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agencies with different missions and approaches<\/h4>\n

The Border Patrol\u2019s growing role in interior enforcement had fueled tensions within ICE, according to current and former DHS officials. Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official who was reassigned from Minneapolis last week, embraced a \u201cturn and burn\u201d strategy<\/a> of lightning-quick street sweeps and heavy shows of force that were designed to rack up arrests but often devolved into chaos.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time you place Border Patrol into interior enforcement the wheels are going to come off,\u201d Darius Reeves, who retired in May as head of ICE\u2019s enforcement and removal operations in Baltimore, said in an interview last year as Bovino\u2019s influence grew.<\/p>\n

ICE has also engaged in aggressive tactics that mark a break from the past, especially in Minnesota. An ICE officer fatally shot Renee Good<\/a> in Minneapolis on Jan. 7. Trump administration officials said she tried to run over an officer with her vehicle, an account that state and local officials have rejected. ICE has asserted sweeping power<\/a> to forcibly enter a person\u2019s home to make arrests without a judge\u2019s warrant, among other controversial tactics.<\/p>\n

But ICE\u2019s traditional playbook<\/a> involves extensive investigation and surveillance before an arrest, often acting quickly and quietly in predawn vehicle stops or outside a home. An ICE official once compared it to watching paint dry.<\/a><\/p>\n

Bovino, in a November interview<\/a>, said the two agencies had different but complementary missions and he compared the relationship to a large metropolitan police department. The Border Patrol was akin to beat cops on roving patrols. ICE was more like detectives, doing investigative work.<\/p>\n

Asked about the friction, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said, \u201cThere is only page: The President\u2019s page. Everyone\u2019s on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one team, and we have one fight to secure the homeland. President Trump has a brilliant, tenacious team led by Secretary (Kristi) Noem to deliver on the American people\u2019s mandate to remove criminal illegal aliens from this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

ICE gets blamed for Border Patrol\u2019s tactics, official says<\/h4>\n

Michael Fisher, chief of the Border Patrol from 2010 to 2015, said last year that his former agency\u2019s tactics were more in line with the Republican administration\u2019s goal of deporting millions of people who entered the United States while Democrat Joe Biden was president.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you deal with trying to arrest hundreds and hundreds of people in a shift?\u201d Fisher said. \u201cICE agents typically aren\u2019t geared, they don\u2019t have the equipment, they don\u2019t have the training to deal in those environments. The Border Patrol does.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Border Patrol\u2019s high-profile raids, including a helicopter landing on the roof of a Chicago apartment building<\/a> that involved agents rappelling down, rankled ICE officials. A U.S. official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity said at the time that ICE often gets blamed for Border Patrol\u2019s tactics.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Scott Mechowski, who retired in 2018 as ICE\u2019s deputy field office director for enforcement and removal operations in New York, said separately that the Border Patrol was essentially doing roving operations and blanketing an area to question anyone or everyone about their legal status. He considered that an unwelcome contrast to ICE\u2019s traditionally more targeted approach, based on deep surveillance and investigation of suspects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t just park our cars and walk through Times Square going, \u2018OK, everybody. Come over here. You\u2019re next, you\u2019re next.\u2019 We never did that. To me, that\u2019s not the way to do your business,\u201d Mechowski said.<\/p>\n

Homan offers a narrower approach<\/h4>\n

As the Border Patrol\u2019s influence grew last year, the administration reassigned at least half<\/a> of the field office directors of ICE\u2019s enforcement and removals operations division. Many were replaced by current or retired officials from CBP, the Border Patrol\u2019s parent agency.<\/p>\n

Homan\u2019s arrival in Minnesota and his emphasis on \u201ctargeted enforcement\u201d mark a subtle but unmistakable shift, at least in tone. He said authorities would arrest people they encounter who are not targets and he reaffirmed Trump\u2019s commitment to mass deportation, but emphasized a narrower approach steeped in investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we leave this building, we know who were looking for, where we\u2019re most likely to find them, what their immigration record is, what their criminal history is,\u201d Homan said.<\/p>\n

On the ground, the mood has not changed much in Minneapolis since Bovino\u2019s departure and Homan\u2019s consolidation of operations under ICE. Fewer CBP convoys are seen in the Twin Cities area, but with ICE still having a significant presence, tensions remain.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, The Associated Press witnessed an ICE officer in an unmarked vehicle tail a car and then pull over its driver, only to appear to realize he was not their target. \u201cYou\u2019re good,\u201d they told him, after scanning his face with their phones. They then drove off, leaving the driver baffled and furious.<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Mark Vancleave in Minneapolis contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The switch comes at a time when support for ICE is sliding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":1405107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[29,7867,22,27],"tags":[8271,7601],"feature":[],"location":[],"type-of-work":[7197],"coauthors":[799],"class_list":["post-1405106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-national-politics","category-news","category-politics","tag-nation","tag-network","type-of-work-news"],"post_status":"","edit_last":0,"edit_lock":0,"highlights":"","original_byline":"","original_canonical":"","original_category":"","original_email":"","original_id":0,"original_pubdate":"","original_source":"","primary_section":"7867","primary_tag":0,"print_workflow_body":"","print_workflow_exported_ts":"","print_workflow_exported_username":"","print_workflow_shapes":"","print_workflow_side":"","really_short_title":"","short_title":"","syndication_source":{"canonical":"https:\/\/www.readingeagle.com\/2026\/02\/06\/ice-tactics-agency-friction","id":"cG9zdDoyNDQ5NTY0","siteName":"Sharing Dash","syndicationSourceStack":[{"canonical":"https:\/\/www.readingeagle.com\/2026\/02\/06\/ice-tactics-agency-friction","id":"cG9zdDoyNDQ5NTY0","siteName":"Sharing Dash","sourceUrl":"https:\/\/sharingdash.medianewsgroup.com"}],"source_url":"https:\/\/sharingdash.medianewsgroup.com"},"market_neutral_title":"","social_title":"","dfm_hub_post_id":0,"paywall_level":"","featured_media_content":{"content_type":"image","content":{"id":1405107,"title":"Immigration_Enforcement_Agency_Friction_91527","filename":"Immigration_Enforcement_Agency_Friction_91527.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Immigration_Enforcement_Agency_Friction_91527.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.thenewsherald.com\/2026\/02\/06\/ice-tactics-agency-friction\/attachment\/1405107\/","alt":"","author":"14","description":"","caption":"FILE – White House border czar Tom Homan holds a news conference at the Bishop Whipple Federal building on Wednesday, February. 4, 2026 in Minneapolis. 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