Kristi Noem is facing a significant setback as her determined ICE agents have been instructed to adhere to new guidelines that emphasize arresting only migrants with criminal records, as part of former President Trump’s revised deportation strategy.

Tom Homan, the border czar, announced at a Thursday morning press conference in Minneapolis that immigration enforcement efforts would now focus on “targeted, strategic, enforcement operations.”

Trump has appointed Homan to oversee immigration enforcement in Minnesota, a move that has sparked intrigue given Homan’s longstanding rivalry with Noem and her alleged associate, Corey Lewandowski.

“My primary objective is a strategic drawdown, following productive discussions with state and local leaders,” Homan stated to the media on Thursday.

The updated ICE directives in Minnesota instruct agents to focus exclusively on immigrants with criminal charges or convictions.

Homan’s strategy relies on cooperation from local authorities, who are expected to prioritize apprehending individuals with criminal backgrounds.

The constraints on ICE mark a complete departure from the broad immigration enforcement tactics that have seen two protesters shot dead this month.

‘DO NOT COMMUNICATE OR ENGAGE WITH AGITATORS,’ read an email to ICE agents in the Twin Cities obtained by Reuters. ‘It serves no purpose other than inflaming the situation. No one is going to convince the other. The only communication should be the officers issuing commands.’ 

Kristi Noem holds a news conference at the headquarters for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to discuss a major winter storm affecting much of the country as well as the shooting death of a Minneapolis man by federal agents in Minnesota, in Washington, DC, on January 24

Riots have intensified across Minneapolis ever since the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration agents

Moments before Alex Pretti (on the ground) was fatally shot in the Minnesota city on Saturday

‘You have your First Amendment rights — I support that,’ Homan said at the press conference. ‘You have the right to protest. I’m just asking to keep it peaceful.’

Homan’s comments mark a clear departure from Noem who slammed immigration protesters by referring to them as ‘rioters’ and ‘insurrectionists.’  

Homan noted that assaulting law enforcement is ‘never okay’ and there will be ‘zero tolerance’ for doing so.

An administration official responded to new guidance by stating, ‘There are ongoing conversations on how to most effectively conduct operations in Minnesota. No guidance should be considered final until it is officially issued.’

The guidance does not describe what sort of actions would trigger commands or what officers should do if commands were not followed. 

The updated guidance came from Marcos Charles, the top official in ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division, the email said. It said officers could only target immigration offenders who had a previous criminal history.

‘We are moving to targeted enforcement of aliens with a criminal history,’ it read. ‘This includes arrests, not just convictions. ALL TARGETS MUST HAVE A CRIMINAL NEXUS.’

Under former President Joe Biden, ICE officers were required to focus on serious criminals, but the Trump administration rescinded that policy, allowing officers to arrest non-criminals without restrictions.

ICE officers can run license plate checks for possible targets and should make an arrest if the registered owner of the vehicle is an immigrant with a criminal history, the guidance said.

Earlier this week, Donald Trump said his administration would ‘de-escalate’ tensions in Minnesota following the fatal shootings of Reene Good, a mother of three children, and Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse. 

Noem is also retreating from an ICE immigration crackdown in Maine as bipartisan backlash grows following the fatal shootings of two US citizens in Minnesota. 

Maine’s Republican Senator Susan Collins also said Thursday that Noem had agreed to pull ICE out of the state following complaints that the agency had arrested legal immigrants. 

‘While the Department of Homeland Security does not confirm law enforcement operations, I can report that Secretary Noem has informed me that ICE has ended its enhanced activities in the State of Maine,’ Collins wrote on X.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.