U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has issued new internal guidance directing officers in Minnesota to avoid engaging with protesters and to narrow the scope of arrests, marking an operational shift following two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens during recent immigration enforcement actions.
The guidance, reviewed by Reuters, comes as the Trump administration seeks to ease escalating tensions in Minneapolis and St. Paul after the deaths sparked protests, legal challenges, and heightened public scrutiny of federal immigration operations.
The updated approach reflects a move away from broad enforcement sweeps that had drawn backlash in Minnesota and other cities, while federal officials stress that the guidance remains subject to further review.
A White House official said discussions on how to conduct operations in Minnesota are ongoing and that no guidance should be considered final until formally issued.
The internal email instructs officers to avoid interaction with individuals described as agitators, stating, “DO NOT COMMUNICATE OR ENGAGE WITH AGITATORS.”
The guidance emphasizes that officers should limit communication to issuing commands and should verbalize each step of the arrest process using megaphones.
It does not specify what actions would prompt commands or how officers should respond if commands are ignored.
ICE officers are also instructed to focus enforcement on immigrants with criminal charges or convictions, a shift that contrasts with earlier practices that allowed arrests without such restrictions.
The guidance states that all targets must have a criminal nexus and allows officers to conduct license plate checks to identify individuals with qualifying criminal histories.
The operational changes follow President Donald Trump’s statement that he aimed to de-escalate tensions after federal agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota this month.
In both cases, administration officials initially portrayed the individuals as aggressors, though video evidence later challenged those assertions.
Trump assigned border czar Tom Homan to oversee Minnesota operations, signaling a preference for more targeted enforcement.
Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who had led confrontational operations in several major cities, was demoted and is expected to retire, with Border Patrol now placed in a support role to ICE.
The shift coincides with the emergence of videos showing earlier confrontations between federal agents and Alex Pretti, a Minnesota nurse killed by agents, further intensifying public debate.
An attorney for Pretti’s family said, “A week before Alex was gunned down in the street – despite posing no threat to anyone – he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents.”