Vice President JD Vance visited Minneapolis on Thursday for a roundtable with law enforcement and community leaders to talk about the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the state.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Vance said the purpose of his visit was to “lower the temperature” surrounding ongoing ICE operations while still enforcing federal immigration law.
“I wanted to meet with business leaders, with ICE officers, with local law enforcement, to try to understand a little bit better what’s going on, so that we can tone down the temperature a little bit, reduce the chaos, but still allow us as a federal government to enforce the American people’s immigration laws,” said Vance.
He then turned to what he described as an increasingly hostile environment for federal agents operating in the Twin Cities and called out the local media for mistruths.
“The guys behind me are doing an incredible job,” Vance said. “Frankly, a lot of the media is lying about what they do every single day.”
He said ICE agents are routinely harassed, doxxed and, in some cases, assaulted — sometimes while off duty. Vance cited a recent incident in which two off-duty ICE officers were confronted while eating at a Minneapolis restaurant.
“A bunch of agitators showed up, locked the door, made them feel like they were in danger for their lives, and then, of course, it was federal law enforcement officers who had to come up, lower the temperature on the situation, and actually get those two off-duty officers to a point of safety,” said Vance.
“That’s totally unacceptable.”
Protest peacefully but assaults will be prosecuted
Vance emphasized that protest is protected, but violence is not.
“Protest me, protest our immigration policy, but do it peacefully,” he said. “But if you assault a law enforcement officer, the Trump administration and the Department of Justice will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
He blamed what he called “far-left agitators” and a lack of cooperation from elected officials for escalating tensions.
This chaos is not happening everywhere
Vance criticized local and state officials for what he described as a refusal to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement — a breakdown he said has fueled chaos, endangered officers, and escalated tensions across the city.
He said cops on the ground would love to assist ICE, but the political leadership is telling them to stand down.
“I don’t know if it’s Mayor Frey, but they’re being told by somebody not to cooperate at all.”
He contrasted Minneapolis with cities in red states, arguing that cooperation — not ideology — determines whether immigration enforcement turns volatile.
He said no where else sees this level of chaos.
“If you’re a local official, if you’re the mayor of this town, if you have any influence over those people, just tell them to cooperate, because we could have immigration enforcement operate as smoothly and without the chaos that we see in Austin, Texas, or Memphis, Tennessee, or even rural parts of the state of Minnesota,” said Vance. “All we need is a little cooperation.”
He said federal agents are often forced into broader enforcement actions because local officials will not share information — even in cases involving serious crimes.
“if we’re trying to find a sex offender, tell us where the guy lives,” said Vance.
“It would make Minneapolis’ streets a lot safer, and it would make this whole thing a lot less traumatic for this community.”
Response to claim a five-year-old was detained
Vance also addressed reports circulating online that ICE detained a five-year-old child earlier this week — a claim he said was misleading.
“I see this story, and I’m a father of a five-year-old, actually a five-year-old little boy, and I think to myself, ‘Oh, my God, this is terrible,'” said Vance. “Well, I do a little bit more follow up research and what I find is that the five-year-old was not arrested, that his dad was an illegal alien, and then when they went to arrest his illegal alien father, the father ran.”
“So, then the story is that ICE detained a five-year-old, what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a five-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America? If the argument is that you can’t arrest people who have violated our laws because they have children, then every single parent is gonna be completely given immunity from ever being the subject of law enforcement. That doesn’t make any sense.”
ICE did NOT target a child. The child was ABANDONED.
On January 20, ICE conducted a targeted operation to arrest Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias an illegal alien from Ecuador who was RELEASED into the U.S. by the Biden administration.
As agents approached the driver Adrian… https://t.co/O7o2dVGHqZ
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) January 22, 2026
On officer accountability
Vance rejected claims that federal agents are immune from discipline, saying misconduct would still be investigated.
“I don’t think any other official within the Trump administration said that officers who engaged in wrongdoing would enjoy immunity, that’s absurd. What I did say is that when federal law enforcement officers violate the law, that is typically something that federal officials would look into.”
He referenced the recent death of Renee Good, calling it a tragedy while noting that the officer involved had been struck by her vehicle.
“I think that Renee Good’s death is a tragedy. I also think that she rammed an ICE officer with her car. So, the tragedy here is multi-layered.”
Vance said the federal government does not want a heavy law enforcement presence in Minneapolis — but sees no alternative under current conditions.
“I do not want so many ICE officers in Minneapolis right now,” said Vance. “They’re here not even to enforce immigration laws, but to protect the people from the rioters. That’s an absurd state of affairs, and we wouldn’t need it if we had a little bit more cooperation from the Minneapolis Police Department.”
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
