Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey sat down with MS NOW’s Chris Hayes hours after the Trump administration announced that it was ending its Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota.
Border czar Tom Homan told reporters Thursday that a “significant drawdown” of federal immigration agents was underway in the state and would continue into next week, officially ending the crackdown that began in late November.
Frey told Hayes that the credit for Homan’s announcement belongs to the residents of Minneapolis. “It’s the tens of thousands of people that have been protesting peacefully in the streets, that have been standing up for their neighbors, getting groceries to people that are terrified to go outside,” he said.
The Democratic mayor acknowledged that the people of his city likely have “mixed feelings” about the drawdown, telling Hayes that while it is a “great relief,” the operation has left behind “great destruction and catastrophe.”
“Two people tragically got killed,” he said. “And in addition to that, we’ve had small local businesses that have shut down. They’re losing between $10 million and $20 million collectively every single week.”
He added: “And while this will be a road back, what I can tell you is that our city is going to show the same kind of resilience and grit that you’ve seen these last couple of months during this Operation Metro Surge.”
Frey stressed that while the administration has pledged to end the operation, he would not immediately take the federal government at its word.
“We are going to believe it when we see it,” the Minneapolis mayor said.
While Frey said that he had held multiple “productive” meetings with Homan, he told Hayes that there was no deal struck between the two parties regarding the withdrawal.
“I think what you saw is, you saw a federal government and an administration that thought that they were going to break the people of Minneapolis down,” he said. “They thought that we were going to back down and sort of kowtow to whatever it is that they were looking to get done, not just locally in Minneapolis but nationwide. … And here’s the thing: We didn’t.”
Frey continued: “The people of Minneapolis stood up. They stood up for their neighbors. They loved on each other. And I think that’s the kind of patriotism that is ultimately going to get us through this.”
You can watch Frey’s full interview in the clip at the top of the page.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW. She was previously a segment producer for “AYMAN” and “The Mehdi Hasan Show.”