Trump's about-face on Minnesota
About 48 hours after the shooting of Alex Pretti, the president moved to pull back one of his administration’s most high-profile and divisive immigration-enforcement campaigns, reports The Wall Street Journal.
By the end of the day Monday, Tom Homan, the Trump border czar who advocated a more targeted approach to deportations, was on his way to Minneapolis to take charge. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, the face of the hard-edge approach in Minnesota, was leaving the state.
Trump’s pivot came after GOP lawmakers and other allies raised concerns that he was squandering public support for his signature campaign issue and senior administration officials increasingly saw the chaotic scenes in Minneapolis as a political liability, the WSJ says. Gun rights advocates, normally steadfast allies of Trump, publicly criticized administration officials for their criticism of Pretti for carrying a gun during protest activity although he had a permit.
Over the past year, Trump’s more hard-line aides, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her top adviser Corey Lewandowski, have pushed for actions that include roving patrols doing street sweeps in large liberal cities. Homan and others have favored a more methodical, slower approach to go after immigrants with criminal histories or final deportation orders, the WSJ says.
Noem has called Pretti a “domestic terrorist.” Bovino said Pretti’s intent was to “massacre law enforcement.”
At least 145 House Democrats have signed onto a resolution calling for Noem’s impeachment, says The Washington Post.
Noem and Lewandowski met with Trump for nearly two hours on Monday night at her request, reports The New York Times. Trump didn’t suggest during the meeting that the jobs of Noem or Lewandowski were at risk.
Americans’ outrage over ICE has spilled into typically apolitical online spaces, flooding even forums for golfers, cat lovers and bourbon aficionados, says a separate Washington Post article.
More than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies including Target, Best Buy and UnitedHealth signed an open letter posted on the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce website on Sunday calling for state, local and federal officials to work together to “find real solutions.”
Robert Reich says he’s hearing from friends and former students in Minneapolis about “an extraordinary outpouring of cooperation and mutual aid.” He says: “One friend tells me he’s lived in Minneapolis for 40 years and has never felt the city as closely bound together. ‘I think we’ve discovered the real meaning of community,’ he writes.”
On Monday, a handful of Senate Republicans called for an independent investigation of Pretti’s killing and potentially more guardrails on ICE enforcement, says Roll Call.
Trump and Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz discussed the situation on a call Monday, and Trump agreed to talk to DHS about ensuring the state is “able to conduct an independent investigation” and “look into reducing the number of federal agents,” Walz’ office says.
Senate Democrats are demanding new legislative restraints on ICE and the Border Patrol and are opposing passage of a spending package that includes Homeland Security funding.
With only four days left before current funding for most federal agencies runs out, both parties are looking for a way to avoid a government shutdown, a separate Roll Call article says.
The No Kings coalition is asking Americans to call their senators and tell them to refuse to fund DHS without real limits on ICE and Border Control. The video of the No Kings mass call on Monday has been viewed 185,000 times.
The Capitol switchboard, to be connected to the offices of senators and representatives, is (202) 224-3121.
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