MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz met with President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, today in what seems to be the beginning of talks since the shakeup in immigration leadership. The Trump administration continues to face significant criticism over immigration enforcement in Minnesota, following two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents just this month. Minnesota Public Radio's Brian Bakst is in St. Paul. Hi there, Brian.
BRIAN BAKST, BYLINE: Hi there.
KELLY: So how'd this meeting between the governor and Tom Homan go today?
BAKST: The two met this morning in the governor's state Capitol office, and it really was our first indication that Tom Homan had arrived in Minnesota after being dispatched to the state yesterday by President Trump. The meeting was private, so we don't know everything that was said, but Walz's office says the governor stressed his main objectives. And they include a swift drawdown in the massive presence of federal agents in Minnesota for many weeks now and his request that a state unit be part of the investigation into the deadly shootings of two observers, Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti. Walz entered the meeting hopeful that the tide was changing, and here's what he told us yesterday.
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TIM WALZ: Whether it was morality or bad optics and poll numbers, whatever has happened here, there is a definite change of tone. There is definitely a more collaborative tone. I want to make sure that I'm not jeopardizing that, that I'm going to take them for their word right now, that they're going to reduce this force. They're going to let us be part of a fair investigation.
BAKST: The White House told us that Homan wasn't available for comment at this time. Trump did tell reporters that he wants an honorable and honest investigation, and in an appearance just a bit ago on Fox News, the president said his administration is going to, quote, "de-escalate a little bit."
KELLY: Meanwhile, where you are today, I understand Homan also met with Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis. What do we know about how that meeting went?
BAKST: Yes. That meeting happened a bit later in the day. And again, we weren't invited in, and the participants - they weren't available for questions after. But Mayor Frey issued a statement later saying that in part, he appreciated the conversation, and he also pushed for a quick end to the Minnesota operation. Frey says that he conveyed to Homan just how much community trust and local police officer resources had been strained during these past seven weeks of intensive immigration enforcement.
KELLY: So these meetings today, of course, follow the big shake-up yesterday. Late yesterday, the White House announced Homan would take over immigration enforcement operations there, that Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino - he was out. And has that translated into any change on the ground, so far as you can tell?
BAKST: It's really hard to say, and that's partly because the entire operation has been a bit opaque. Agents would just show up in places, and there would sometimes be clashes. Full arrest data was never disclosed. We've been able to keep some tabs on the number of detainments through court filings, and those are on behalf of immigrants arrested for possible deportation. We'll be watching to see if those court filings challenging detainments fall off.
But there's still the sense that residents across the Twin Cities aren't ready to let their guard down just yet. It's really hard for them to tell if the step-down is real. NPR's Liz Baker spoke with Flavio Moreno earlier today as he lit a candle near a memorial to Alex Pretti. He said he wanted to honor Pretti because he died protecting Moreno's community of Latino immigrants. And Liz asked if he thought changes in DHS leadership on the ground would make a difference, and he really wasn't optimistic.
FLAVIO MARENO: Not really, not really - I'm thinking we're going to see nothing real till we don't see ICE in the streets.
BAKST: Until we don't see ICE on the streets is what he stressed there.
KELLY: Meanwhile, Alex Pretti's sister issued her first statement today. Can you describe it?
BAKST: Yeah. She wrote about her older brother as kind, generous and said he had a way of lighting up a room - every room he walked into. She called him her hero. But Micayla ended it by criticizing the way Trump administration officials characterized her brother as having malicious intent the day he was killed and asked, where does this end? Mary Louise, that's a question a lot of people in Minnesota also have.
KELLY: Brian Bakst from Minnesota Public Radio. Thank you.
BAKST: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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