Northside pastor meets with border czar. He showed 'compassion' and 'some regret'
New Generation Church Pastor Victor Martinez was among a group of faith leaders who met with Border Czar Tom Homan on Friday. Photo by David Pierini
By David Pierini, Editor
Border Czar Tom Homan told a group of faith leaders, including a Northside pastor, that he would like to end Operation Metro Surge in a “couple of weeks.”
New Generation Church Pastor Victor Martinez was invited to the meeting held Friday afternoon at the Saint Paul Downtown Airport. At the meeting, which included Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Homan told faith leaders he would end the surge if talks with state and local leaders continued to progress.
In an interview that will air Sunday, Homan told KSTP political reporter Tom Hauser that he wants to “get it done quickly,” but said he won’t draw down the number of agents if he feels ICE officers are in danger from “agitators.”
At the meeting with faith leaders, Martinez said “Tom Homan showed a lot of compassion and maybe even some regret.”
Homan arrived in Minneapolis on Jan. 27 to replace operations chief Greg Bovino after three shootings by ICE officers last month. Two observers were killed in separate incidents. The third shooting, which followed a car crash and foot chase that ended at 24th and Lyndale avenues in North Minneapolis, injured a Venezuelan immigrant.
Not long after the shooting death of Alex Pretti on Jan. 25, the Trump administration started to soften its grip on Minnesota. In addition to the deaths of Pretti and Renee Macklin Good, ICE operations received heavy scrutiny around the clock in the press and on social media. Multiple videos and images showing agents tear-gassing protestors, removing people from their cars and homes, and arresting a 5-year-old boy began to turn many against a president who had been popular for his tough stance on immigration.
At one point, as many as 3,500 federal agents were conducting raids. Shortly after Homan arrived in Minnesota, he announced he was sending home 700 agents.
Martinez said the threat of ICE raids left his church sanctuary virtually empty. On two separate occasions in the last two weeks, ICE agents were outside his church on Golden Valley Road. In both cases, the agents left after neighbors and observers gathered to between agents and the church, Martinez said. But the incidents forced a non-profit group organizing food deliveries for immigrant families to relocate from the church.
“We shared our concerns about what was happening,” Martinez said. “Our church is being intimidated by ICE. Our community members who were here with residency and legal documents were being detained for weeks at a time without explanation.
“He told us that that’s not going to happen anymore. He said there are normally 150 agents stationed in Minnesota at any given time. That’s his goal to bring that back and to just go for targeted enforcement.”
Martinez received a mix of relief and skepticism from his Facebook followers after he reported on the discussions in the meeting. To the skeptics, he said, “I have faith.”
This is a developing story.