A demonstrator holds a sign during a candlelight vigil during a protest in response to the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis earlier in the day Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he had “very good” and “very respectful” calls with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Trump spoke to the two Democrats who have been among the most vocal critics of the anti-immigrant crackdown in the twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in Minnesota.
Last week, following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, the second such incident in Minneapolis in less than twenty days, Governor Walz called for President Trump to remove “his 3,000 untrained agents” from Minnesota to prevent further civilian deaths.
‘We need is their criminals’
On Tuesday, Trump told 77 WABC Radio that if Minnesota officials handed over the criminals to the authorities, the ongoing operation could be ended soon.
“What we need is their criminals,” Trump said. “You know, they have criminals. And all I said, ‘Just give us your criminals. And if you give us the criminals, it all goes away.’ They’re there to pick up murderers.”
Story continues below this ad
The Trump administration has been sending the National Guard and ICE and Border Patrol agents to various Democratic-ruled cities on the pretext of fighting crime and cracking down on illegal immigrants, resulting in violent confrontations between federal officials and protesters.
Killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti
The protests took a deadly turn earlier this month when Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman, was shot dead by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on January 7. Even as the outrage over Good’s killing continued in Minneapolis and across the US, another man, 37-year-old Alex Pretti, was fatally shot on January 27.
Judge pulls up top ICE official
On Monday, the chief federal judge in Minnesota, while hearing a request by the state and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul for an order to halt the immigration law enforcement surge, said the Trump administration has failed to comply with orders to hold hearings for detained immigrants.
Judge Patrick J. Schiltz also directed that Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE, must appear personally in court on Friday to explain why he shouldn’t be held in contempt.
“This Court has been extremely patient with respondents, even though respondents decided to send thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain aliens without making any provision for dealing with the hundreds of habeas petitions and other lawsuits that were sure to result,” the judge wrote.
Schlitz wrote that he recognizes ordering the head of a federal agency to appear personally is extraordinary. “But the extent of ICE’s violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary, and lesser measures have been tried and failed,” Schlitz wrote.
“Respondents have continually assured the Court that they recognize their obligation to comply with Court orders, and that they have taken steps to ensure that those orders will be honoured going forward,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, though, the violations continue.”
Share
A demonstrator holds a sign during a candlelight vigil during a protest in response to the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis earlier in the day Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman) 
