U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino walks through a Target store Jan. 11 in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Adam Gray, file)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Monday that some federal immigration enforcement officers would soon leave his city following a conversation with President Donald Trump, who praised the discussion that declared that “lots of progress is being made.”

Frey said he asked Trump in a phone call to end the immigration enforcement surge and that Trump agreed the present situation cannot continue.

The mayor said some agents will begin leaving today. Frey said he would keep pushing for others involved in Operation Metro Surge to go.

Among the agents who are expected to depart was senior Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Trump dispatched his border czar to Minnesota to take charge of much the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.

Bovino has been at the center of the administration’s aggressive enforcement surge in cities nationwide. His departure marks a significant public shift in federal law enforcement posture amid mounting outrage over the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents.

The border czar, Tom Homan, will take charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.

The person familiar with the matter was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the operation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

Bovino’s leadership of highly visible federal crackdowns, including operations that sparked mass demonstrations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and Minneapolis, has drawn fierce criticism from local officials, civil rights advocates and congressional Democrats.

Criticism has increased around Bovino in the last few days after his public defense of the Pretti shooting and disputed claims about the confrontation that led to his death.

In other developments, Trump declared that he was now on a “similar wavelength” as the governor following the second fatal shooting by federal immigration officers this month.

Trump and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz spoke in a phone call and later offered comments that were a marked change from the critical statements they have exchanged in the past. Their conversation happened on the same day a federal judge heard arguments in a lawsuit aimed at halting the federal immigration enforcement surge in the state.

“We, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” the president wrote in a social media post.

Walz, in a statement, said the call was “productive” and that impartial investigations into the shootings were needed. Trump said his administration was looking for “any and all” criminals the state has in their custody. Walz said the state Department of Corrections honors federal requests for people in its custody.

It was unclear whether the new tone would lead to changes. Attorneys for the administration, the state and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul appeared Monday before U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez, who is considering whether to grant requests to temporarily halt the immigration operation.

She said the case was a priority, though she issued no immediate ruling.

Lawyers for the state and the Twin Cities argued the situation on the street is so dire it requires the court to halt the federal government’s enforcement actions.

“If this is not stopped right here, right now, I don’t think anybody who is seriously looking at this problem can have much faith in how our republic is going to go in the future,” Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said.

The judge questioned the government’s motivation behind the crackdown and expressed skepticism about a letter recently sent by Attorney General Pam Bondi to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The letter asked the state to give the federal government access to voter rolls, to turn over state Medicaid and food assistance records, and to repeal sanctuary policies.

“I mean, is there no limit to what the executive can do under the guise of enforcing immigration law?” Menendez asked. She noted that the federal requests are the subject of litigation.

Brantley Mayers, a Justice Department attorney, said the government’s goal is to enforce federal law.

On Sunday night, protesters targeted a Minneapolis hotel where federal agents were believed to be staying, blocking a major avenue on the edge of the University of Minnesota campus.

A freelance photographer working for The Associated Press saw smashed glass in the hotel lobby, as well as graffiti with obscenities and threats directed at ICE.

A Minneapolis police officer was inside the hotel and tried to provide aid to a federal agent who was injured. More officers from local and state agencies planned to move in to “deescalate the situation, and make arrests,” Minneapolis police said Monday in a statement.

But as they began to reach the scene and arrested two people, federal agents arrived and “deployed chemical munitions,” the police statement said.