Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was caught flat-footed on live television when he told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo that his city “will not cooperate with ICE or any federal agency around immigration enforcement work,” a stunning admission that amounts to a political red carpet for lawbreakers. Americans who believe in rule of law should be alarmed that a mayor would openly declare a policy that impedes federal officers from doing their jobs while pretending that crime will somehow stay contained.
Frey tried to dress his defiance as a “moral imperative” and argued that local police should be spared the burden of immigration enforcement so they can focus on violent criminals, but this false choice is dangerous and naïve. Turning the city into a safe harbor for those who flout our laws only encourages more crime and puts law-abiding citizens at risk while creating perverse incentives for cartels and smugglers.
The mayor’s comments echo Minneapolis’s separation ordinance and an attitude from radical city halls that refuse basic cooperation with federal authorities, even after a massive federal ICE deployment to the region aimed at rounding up dangerous offenders. When city governments hide behind slogans and legalistic dodges instead of partnering to remove violent criminals, they abandon the hardworking families who pay the bills and expect safety in return.
Washington has already pushed back, warning that sanctuary defiance carries consequences and that federal resources will be deployed where local officials refuse to act. If Minneapolis persists in stonewalling ICE, conservatives should demand that the federal government do its duty to protect Americans, and that local leaders be held politically and legally accountable for putting ideologized virtue signaling ahead of public safety.
This moment is a call to action for patriots who value law, order, and common sense: challenge the permissive elites who sacrifice neighborhoods on the altar of political correctness, support leaders who secure the border and back law enforcement, and make sure voters remember which officials stood with families and which stood with open-borders chaos. The safety of our communities isn’t a talking point — it’s a promise, and mayors who break that promise must answer to the people.
