About 700 of the roughly 3,000 federal officers deployed around Minnesota will be withdrawn, Homan said. The immigration operations have upended the Twin Cities and escalated protests, especially since the killing of protester Alex Pretti, the second fatal shooting by federal officers in Minneapolis.
Homan pushed for jails to alert ICE to inmates who could be deported, saying transferring such inmates to the agency is safer because it means fewer officers have to be out looking for people in the country illegally.
Despite nodding to mistakes in Trump's immigration crackdown in Minnesota, Homan is still vigorously defending federal officers and pointing fingers at protesters.
"We will hold our officers to the highest standard," he told reporters before shifting tone.
"Considering the hate, the rhetoric, the attack, I think they performed remarkably, and I'm proud of them," he said.
Homan urged protesters to back off.
"The message to those folks: 'What are you doing?'" he said. "You really think you're going to stop ICE and CBP from doing their job? It's a joke. The only people you are hurting is your own community. ... Stop. Stop."
During that critique, Homan did not explicitly acknowledge that ICE and Border Patrols shot and killed two U.S. citizens in January.
Trump's border czar described improved coordination among federal, state and local law enforcement after he arrived in Minnesota to oversee Trump's immigration crackdown.
But Homan stopped short Wednesday of criticizing operations before he arrived, despite clashes between federal authorities and Minnesota residents, including ICE and Border Patrol officers killing two U.S. citizens.
The operation under the now-deposed Gregory Bovino was "very effective as far as public safety goes," Homan said. "Was it a perfect operation? No," he continued, later adding, "I'm not going to sit here and point the finger at anybody" and say "they failed."
Homan said he "brought a different set of eyes" to Minnesota at Trump's request.
"President Trump sent me here to help de-escalate what was going on," Homan said, without mentioning the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. "We're not surrendering our mission. ... We're just making this more effective and more smart."
A prosecutor says the Justice Department is still weighing whether to seek the death penalty against a man charged with shooting two National Guard troops near the White House, killing one of them.
Prosecutors may seek to add charges that would make Rahmanullah Lakanwal eligible for a death sentence if he's convicted in the Nov. 26 ambush, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Tortorice said Wednesday during the defendant's court appearance.
"We're pursuing those options," Tortorice told U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. "We're continuing to look at that."
Mehta said he wasn't asking for any "firm commitments" from the government yet.
"I'd rather get to that point sooner rather than later," the judge said before setting May 6 as Lakanwal's next court date in Washington.
Lakanwal, an Afghan national, pleaded not guilty to nine counts, including first-degree murder, in the shooting that killed West Virginia National Guard Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and critically wounded Staff. Sgt. Andrew Wolfe.
State and local officials, along with Minnesota officials, have harshly criticized the federal government's roving patrols in the streets of Minneapolis and the surrounding area.
"When we leave this building, we know who we're looking for, where we're most likely to find (them), what their criminal record is," Homan told reporters Wednesday in Minnesota.
Still, when pressed on whether ICE and CBP officers would stop random requests that people prove their U.S. citizenship or legal immigration status, Homan declined to rule out spontaneous arrests beyond an original "criminal target."
"We will not turn a blind eye to illegal immigration," he said.
Homan says its a mix of 700 ICE and Border Patrol agents leaving. The remaining federal footprint will be more than 2,000. Homan says he would like to return to the metro area's normal federal immigration footprint, which he said was about 150 officers.