Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Border Czar Tom Homan meet and agree to ‘ongoing dialogue’

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) said he met with Border Czar Tom Homan on Tuesday and that the two agree to an “ongoing dialogue” after two residents of Minneapolis were killed over the last month in separate altercations with federal law enforcement officials sent to the state as part of President Trump’s deportation crackdown. 

“Governor Walz met with Tom Homan this morning and reiterated Minnesota’s priorities: impartial investigations into the Minneapolis shootings involving federal agents, a swift, significant reduction in the number of federal forces in Minnesota, and an end to the campaign of retribution against Minnesota,” Walz’s office said in a statement.

“The Governor and Homan agreed on the need for an ongoing dialogue and will continue working toward those goals, which the President also agreed to yesterday. The Governor tasked the Minnesota Department of Public Safety as the primary liaison to Homan to ensure these goals are met,” his office added.

Homan was sent to the Twin Cities by Trump, who he will report directly to, after Alex Pretti was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent on Saturday. Some administration officials initially characterized Pretti as a domestic terrorist even as videos of his killing showed he was killed after a concealed weapon he was legally carrying was removed from his body.

The killing came as tensions between the federal officers and citizens of the Twin Cities were sky high. Local officials have demanded that the federal police be pulled from Minnesota.

The White House signaled a shift in its handling of the situation Monday as the president announced Homan was headed to Minnesota, and that combative Border Patrol head Dan Bovino was exiting.

President Trump also spoke with Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Monday, discussions he said were productive. On Tuesday, Walz also labeled his talk with Trump as productive.

While agreeing to continue dialogue is a welcome and positive development, that alone will not fix the fundamental problem that exists; that leftists in Minnesota continue to harass ICE officers, and some ICE officers are ready to use deadly force. Unless something in this equation fundamentally shifts, there could very well be another shooting that results in a death, whether of a protestor or an ICE agent.

It’s difficult to navigate for both sides, because they both have bases that will get extremely angry if they are seen to be capitulating to the other side. There is no simple solution, but some sort of solution has to come if tensions are to cool and people are to stay safe.