The ginger calming in rhetoric over the federal immigration operation in Minneapolis appeared to collapse Wednesday in a testy exchange between the city’s Democratic mayor and President Donald Trump.
Mayor Jacob Frey, who has repeatedly denounced the presence and the aggressive conduct of federal agents, met Tuesday with Trump border czar Tom Homan shortly after Homan arrived in the city. Trump’s deployment of Homan was seen as one of several steps aimed at containing the political fallout from Alex Pretti’s killing by Homeland Security officers — the second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by DHS officers in the city this month.
Frey said in a statement afterward that he and Homan had a “productive conversation” which entailed the mayor demanding an end to the federal immigration operation.
“I also made it clear that Minneapolis does not and will not enforce federal immigration laws, and that we will remain focused on keeping our neighbors and streets safe,” Frey added.
Trump responded furiously Wednesday morning.
“Surprisingly, Mayor Jacob Frey just stated that, ‘Minneapolis does not, and will not, enforce Federal Immigration Laws,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This is after having had a very good conversation with him. Could somebody in his inner sanctum please explain that this statement is a very serious violation of the Law, and that he is PLAYING WITH FIRE!” Frey immediately shot back with a reference to former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, whose tough-on-crime tenure as mayor of New York was also marked by his maintaining it as a “sanctuary city.” “The job of our police is to keep people safe, not enforce fed immigration laws,” Frey wrote on X. “I want them preventing homicides, not hunting down a working dad who contributes to MPLS & is from Ecuador. It’s similar to the policy your guy Rudy had in NYC. Everyone should feel safe calling 911.” This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News. Recommended
