US Vice President JD Vance traveled to Minnesota on Thursday for a high-profile appearance in the Democratic-led state, which has been the epicenter of anti-immigration enforcement protests.
The trip comes as ICE continues its crackdown on immigrants in the city, with the recent apprehension of a 5-year-old child that caused widespread outrage.
The federal government has deployed several thousand Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who have repeatedly clashed with angry residents. Tensions have been high since the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE officer two weeks ago, with residents taking to the streets to demand that ICE leave the state.
“If you want to turn down the chaos in Minneapolis, stop fighting immigration enforcement and accept that we have to have a border in this country,” Vance said earlier in the day during a stop in Toledo, Ohio, en route to Minnesota. “It’s not that hard,” he added.
Vance blames ‘far-left’ for turmoil in Minneapolis
The vice president met with ICE agents in Minneapolis. Vance, who has defended the ICE agent responsible for Good’s death, blamed “far-left people” and state and local law enforcement officials for the chaos unfolding in the state.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accused the federal government of being the one causing the turmoil.
“Take the show of force off the streets and partner with the state on targeted enforcement of violent offenders instead of random, aggressive confrontation,” he wrote on social media.
Vance says ICE was looking for 5-year-old’s father
School officials and the family’s lawyer say the 5-year-old boy was arriving home from preschool when he was taken by federal agents, along with his father, to a detention facility in Texas.
The boy is the fourth child from his Minneapolis suburb to be detained by ICE in recent weeks, the Washington Post reported.
US media widely circulated a photo of the small boy with his backpack being held by an ICE agent.
The arrest of a young child by ICE has sparked further outrage in Minneapolis (The child’s face has been blurred in accordance with the German press code to protect his privacy)Image: Ali Daniels/AP Photo/picture alliance
School officials accuse ICE agents of using young boy as ‘bait’
Previously, agents took the boy out of a car that was in the family’s driveway and instructed him to knock on the door of his home. School officials accused ICE of using the boy as “bait,” adding that the family had an active asylum case and has not been ordered to leave the country.
But on Thursday, Vance defended ICE agents who detained the boy as he was arriving home from preschool.
“When they went to arrest his illegal alien father, the father ran,” Vance said. “So the story is that ICE detained a 5-year-old. Well, what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a five-year-old child freeze to death?”
Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik said the family came to the US in 2024. They have an active asylum case and have not been ordered to leave the country.
The lawyer of the 5-year-old, Marc Prokosch, denied that the boy’s family was evading ICE authorities.
“This family was not eluding ICE in any way,” he said. “They were following all the established protocols, pursuing their claim for asylum, showing up for their court hearings, and posed no safety, no flight risk, and never should have been detained.”
Prokosch also denied Vance’s claims that the family were “illegal aliens.”
“They came properly, they came legally and they were pursuing a legal pathway,” he said.
Minneapolis is a sanctuary city, which means police do not cooperate with federal immigration sweeps.
Homeland Security defends operation in Minneapolis
The spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security defended detaining the father in a statement, saying one of the ICE officers remained with the child for the child’s safety while other officers apprehended the father.
The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that the 5-year-old’s brother, a middle school student, returned home 20 minutes later and only found his mother at home.
ICE policy states that arresting officers should allow a parent to make arrangements for their child’s care. It’s unclear if officers did so in this situation.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar, Darko Janjevic
