Tom Homan has landed in Minneapolis, and for now, at least, the temperature appears to be dropping.
The border czar says he’s received assurances from Mayor Jacob Frey, Governor Tim Walz, and Attorney General Keith Ellison that Minnesota will once again allow state prisons and jails to hand over illegal immigrant criminals to ICE — instead of quietly releasing them back into the community.
That matters. A lot.
If local officials actually follow through, federal agents won’t need to fan out across neighborhoods to track down dangerous offenders. ICE can scale back its presence, tensions can cool, and the risk of confrontations drops dramatically.
In other words, this is exactly the kind of cooperation that prevents chaos.
But while Homan works to de-escalate, many on the political left appear determined to do the opposite.
Homan made it clear: the drawdown could happen even faster “if the hateful rhetoric and impediments stop.”
Unfortunately, that message didn’t land.
The very same day, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey denounced ICE’s presence as an “occupation” and warned that the “endurance of the republic” was at stake — language that practically invites confrontation. In effect, the mayor was urging Americans to interfere with federal agents carrying out federal law.
Governor Tim Walz piled on, ominously asking whether Minneapolis had become a modern-day “Fort Sumter.” It’s a striking comparison — though likely not the one he intended, since Fort Sumter was where rebels fired on the federal government and sparked the Civil War.
Worse, these aren’t just rhetorical flourishes. Walz and Frey bear real responsibility for what happened in Minneapolis, where local law enforcement was ordered to stand down while activists obstructed federal officers — a decision that helped create the conditions leading to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
And the extremism isn’t limited to Minnesota.
In Philadelphia, far-left District Attorney Larry Krasner openly threatened ICE agents with future prosecution once President Trump leaves office — even suggesting they should be “hunted down” like Nazis.
In Arizona, Attorney General Kris Mayes went even further, falsely implying that civilians could legally shoot masked ICE agents under the state’s Stand Your Ground law. They can’t. States don’t get to legalize violence against federal officers doing their jobs.
That kind of rhetoric isn’t reckless. It’s dangerous.
Homan, for his part, has warned that accountability is coming — not just for individuals who attack agents, but for the activist networks coordinating the chaos. Groups like ICE Watch don’t merely protest. They operate with military-style coordination, track agent vehicles, mobilize crowds in real time, and even attempt to evict officers from their hotels.
These tactics aren’t about compassion or civil liberties. They’re designed to provoke confrontations, generate viral moments, and erode public trust in law enforcement.
And they’re working — at a cost.
For all the mistakes made by Homeland Security in Minneapolis, Homan is now clearly trying to bring the temperature down, restore order, and refocus enforcement on the most dangerous offenders.
The question is whether the politicians and activists on the other side are willing to do the same.
Because if they aren’t, this won’t end in de-escalation.
It’ll end in something far uglier — and everyone will pretend they didn’t see it coming.
