In a decisive move, Donald Trump has replaced Kristi Noem with Tom Homan to spearhead a troubled Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Minneapolis. Trump announced the change on Truth Social, stating, “I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight. He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair and will report directly to me.” This shift comes on the heels of a growing scandal following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old American nurse, by ICE agents. The incident has intensified unrest in Minneapolis, already simmering with protests after the death of Renee Good, an anti-ICE protester and mother of three.

Concerns have been mounting among Republican lawmakers in Washington, who fear that Noem’s management of the operation has spiraled out of control. Meanwhile, Democratic leaders, both nationally and within Minnesota, are calling for federal agents to withdraw from the state. Reports indicate that Trump has voiced dissatisfaction with how Noem’s department handled the communication following Pretti’s shooting. Seeking to restore order, the President has chosen Homan, a seasoned ICE veteran and Noem’s long-standing adversary, to lead the Minnesota operation initiated in early December.

The tension reached a boiling point on Sunday night with riots erupting outside a Minneapolis Hilton hotel, believed to be housing ICE agents. Protestors shattered windows and vandalized the building’s exterior, as captured in various videos. The crowd chanted and marched in front of the hotel, attempting to breach its entrance but ultimately failing. Despite the chaos, which persisted for over an hour, police did not intervene. The power struggle between Noem and Homan over Trump’s mass deportation agenda has been ongoing since the administration’s inception, adding another layer of complexity to the current crisis.

Under Noem’s leadership, non-law enforcement DHS officials have feuded with career ICE officers, who are loyal to Homan, over how to detain and deport illegal migrants. Corey Lewandowski, a longtime Trump insider and rumored lover to Noem, has publicly accused Homan of leaking to the press and has sought to oust immigration officers close to the border czar. Homan now appears to have The President’s support after Trump appointed him to clean up the mess caused by Noem’s leadership in the Twin Cities.

Trump then vowed to continue his administration’s efforts to investigate fraud in Minnesota and took a shot at Minnesota Democratic Rep. Illhan Omar. ‘Separately, a major investigation is going on with respect to the massive 20 Billion Dollar, Plus, Welfare Fraud that has taken place in Minnesota, and is at least partially responsible for the violent organized protests going on in the streets.’ He concluded, ‘Additionally, the DOJ and Congress are looking at ‘Congresswoman’ Illhan Omar, who left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars. Time will tell all.’

Following Trump’s Monday morning announcement, Noem issued a statement praising Homan as a ‘major asset’ to her team – appearing to signal she still has the final say over the operation. ‘I have worked closely with Tom over the last year and he has been a major asset to our team — his experience and insight will help us in our wide-scale fraud investigations, which have robbed Americans, and will help us to remove even more public safety threats and violent criminal illegal aliens off the of streets of Minneapolis.’

Pretti’s death over the weekend was the second fatal shooting of a natural born American by immigration agents since Noem launched the crackdown. Good was shot dead by an ICE agent on January 7 as she tried to drive her SUV away while agents ordered her out of the car. Trump expressed regret over the shooting, referring to Good’s family being MAGA voters, but blamed the local Democratic leadership for fueling resentment towards ICE. Trump’s sweeping ICE ‘surge’ into the Minneapolis-St Paul area began in early December.

Shortly afterwards, a video by the right-wing YouTuber Nick Shirley documenting alleged migrant welfare fraud exploded online. Trump deployed another 2,000 federal agents and officers to the Minneapolis area at the start of January in what the administration touted as the largest federal immigration enforcement operation ever carried out.