Homeland security chief contradicts ice director on agent numbers in minnesota

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sparked confusion Tuesday when she testified that approximately 650 federal agents remain in Minnesota, a figure contradicting an earlier sworn declaration from a local field office leader.

Agents in minnesota: a shifting landscape

Sam Olson, director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) field office in St. Paul, stated in an affidavit that around 107 Enforcement and Removal Operations agents would remain in the office after February 25. Additionally, Olson predicted that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) anticipated having about 300 agents on detail in the St. Paul office by March.

Noem disclosed the 650 agent count while addressing the ongoing immigration crackdown at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, in response to a question from Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar. The total includes investigators working on fraud cases, according to Noem.

Operation Metro Surge, which began in December, aimed to probe alleged fraud. Since then, top prosecutors in the Minneapolis U.S. Attorney's Office – including the lead prosecutor in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme – abruptly resigned amid pressure to investigate the widow of Renee Good, who was shot by an ICE agent in January.

Before the surge, there were approximately 150 agents in Minnesota. At the height of Operation Metro Surge, roughly 4,000 federal agents were stationed in the state, leading to around 4,000 arrests, as per DHS. Lawmakers from across the country pressed Noem about the shootings of Good and Alex Pretti, her claims that protesters are