Jacob Frey blasts JD Vance over ICE operations after Minneapolis visit

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Vice President JD Vance was in Minneapolis Thursday afternoon to visit with local leaders and address ongoing tensions between federal agents and those protesting immigration enforcement operations.

Tensions remain high between ICE agents and protesters after the Jan. 7 fatal shooting of Renee Good.

Mayor Frey blasts JD Vance

What we know:

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey held a news conference after Vance’s visit, and used sarcasm to blast the vice president. 

"It sounds like JD Vance is taking a whole lot of my talking points, but not all of them. He said ‘Come out and protest, but do it peacefully.’ That sounds like exactly what I’ve been saying since the shooting of Renee Good," Frey said. "We want to enforce the laws while making sure the people of Minneapolis can go about their day. That sounds a lot to me like he wants to be mayor of the city. Only he’s been here for two hours, whereas we as a city have been here dealing with these issues, going through this chaos the last several weeks. Peace is not spraying irritants and chemicals at peaceful protesters, it’s not detaining a 5-year-old, it’s not dragging a pregnant woman through the streets."

Frey accuses ICE of racial profiling

The backstory:

Earlier this week, local law enforcement accused federal agents of racial profiling amid their immigration enforcement operations. While arresting targeted undocumented immigrants, local officials say ICE agents are also detaining others who are U.S. citizens for no reason.

More than 3,000 federal agents are in the Twin Cities as part of "Operation Metro Surge." Frey says the increased presence is creating more chaos than necessary.

"What’s changed is the response we’re seeing. We have 3,000-plus ICE agents and Border Control on our streets without a clear plan. What’s changed is we’ve got this huge influx of what feels like an occupation, and what’s changed is they are arresting U.S. citizens, they are detaining people that have done nothing wrong," Frey said. "They’re going after people based specifically the fact that they look Somali or Latino, and no reason beyond that."

Vance didn’t meet with Gov. Walz, Frey

Dig deeper:

Vance reportedly met with Minnesota Republican lawmakers during his visit to the state on Thursday. He did not, however, speak with Mayor Frey, or Gov. Tim Walz. Vance said during his Thursday news conference while he didn’t speak with Walz directly, he’s in constant communication with Walz’s office.

Frey wonders if Vance is playing political theater, or if he actually wants to make Minneapolis a safer place.

"The question I have is, is this political performance that is taking place in our city that is compromising our safety? Or is this trying to achieve an end goal that is improving safety in Minneapolis?" Frey said. "We’ve got to find every possible way right now to end this large-scale deployment and send these agents home."