WASHINGTON — Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey decried the immigration crackdown in his city as an “invasion” by the federal government and fretted about the possibility of local cops clashing with the feds.
The Democrat encouraged protesters to remain peaceful and defended their right to record ICE agents as they conduct immigration enforcement operations on city streets.
“We will not counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our own brand of chaos here,” Frey told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “And we’re not going to give them an excuse to do the thing that clearly they’re trying to set up to do right now.”
“I never thought in a million years that we would be invaded by our own federal government.”
The Trump administration began a crackdown across Minnesota last year in response to a massive welfare fraud scandal roiling the state.
Since then, roughly 3,000 ICE and Border Patrol officers have been deployed to his city, which has a local police force of about 600. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is preparing 1,500 military personnel to enter the city, Reuters reported.
Last week, Frey warned that residents were asking police to “fight ICE agents on the street.”
“We can’t have that in America,” Frey insisted Sunday when pressed about that prior warning. “What we are hopeful for here is the judicial system to do its part to see that necessary check and balance.”
Minnesota and Illinois have sued the Trump administration in a bid to push the surge of federal personnel out of their respective states.
Trump has also publicly floated the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, which was last used in 1992, to deploy the National Guard to Minnesota. Frey said that would “be a shocking step.”
Border czar Tom Homan recently claimed that the Trump administration is prepared to scale down the surge if local officials agree to “let us in the jail.”
Frey skirted around that request when pressed.
“I don’t think Homan understands the basic dynamic as to how stuff works in Minnesota here,” Frey fired back, contending that Minneapolis is tough on crime. “But the bottom line is, as we know, this is not about safety. It’s not about crime.”
“This is about intimidation. And, in Minneapolis, we’re not going to be intimidated.”
Last week, CBS News reported that the Justice Department is probing whether Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) have been engaged in a conspiracy to hamper federal immigration agents.
“We haven’t received anything, a subpoena or otherwise,” Frey told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” about that report. “And obviously it would be deeply concerning if the federal government is targeting someone for [an action] that is quite literally my job.”
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