Vance To Visit Minneapolis in Show of Support for ICE Amid Tensions Over Immigration Crackdown

Amid heightened tensions between state officials in Minnesota and the Trump administration, Vice President Vance is heading to Minneapolis Thursday to show support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The visit comes roughly two weeks after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, which has led to anti-ICE protests, and the White House says Mr. Vance intends to show the administration’s “unwavering support” for ICE.A White House official told Axios that Mr. Vance “will point out how Minneapolis’ sanctuary city policies have degraded public safety and endangered ICE officers. He will also celebrate the essential work ICE agents have done to take dangerous, criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets.”The visit comes as support for President Trump’s immigration crackdown appears to be slipping. An AP-NORC poll released last week found that support for the president’s immigration policies was 38 percent, down from 49 percent last spring. The influx of federal agents in Minnesota has been criticized by local leaders. After the death of Good, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey told ICE to “get the f—” out of the city, and Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, told the Trump Administration to “end this occupation.”“What’s happening in Minnesota right now defies belief,” Mr. Walz said in an address to residents. “News reports simply don’t do justice to the level of chaos and disruption and trauma the federal government is raining down upon our communities.”The Trump Administration has signaled it has no plans to back down. After the Department of Homeland Security said that one of its agents was ambushed and attacked, Mr. Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would grant him the authority to deploy the military to Minnesota. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters that the administration has “no plans to pull out of Minnesota.” On Sunday, Reuters reported that the Pentagon told 1,500 active-duty soldiers in Alaska to prepare to deploy to Minnesota in case the situation escalates. MS NOW reported that a prepare-to-deploy order was also issued to members of an Army military police brigade at Fort Bragg. A source told the outlet that “at least a few hundred soldiers are being prepared for the possible mobilization.” A Pentagon spokesman, however, told MS NOW that “any tip about this is pre-decisional.”While Mr. Vance is expected to express support for ICE, he is also expected to discuss concerns about widespread fraud in Minnesota. Last month, federal prosecutors claimed that more than half of the $18 billion in federal Medicaid funds sent to the state since 2018 may have been stolen. At least 92 people have been charged with fraud schemes in Minnesota, 89 percent of them Somali-Americans. The assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota, Joe Thompson, told reporters that the “magnitude” of the fraud “cannot be overstated.”According to Axios, White House officials hope that Mr. Vance’s trip to Minneapolis can help shift the narrative away from the immigration crackdown and back onto the concerns about fraud in Minnesota.

Vance To Visit Minneapolis in Show of Support for ICE Amid Tensions Over Immigration Crackdown

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