Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is openly asserting that his citys police officers have the legal authority to arrest federal immigration agents, even as his administration faces mounting scrutiny over a sprawling social-services fraud scandal tied to the states Somali immigrant community.
According to WND, Freys remarks come as federal agents have poured into Minnesota to enforce immigration law and to probe what appears to be a multi?billion?dollar racket involving bogus daycare and other social?services claims. In some cases, fraud schemes were reportedly as crude as filing paperwork for a daycare center, never caring for a single child, and then billing taxpayers for millions of dollars in services that were never rendered.
Speaking on a podcast that amplifies progressive talking points, Frey was explicit about his view of local power over federal officers. Can our cops arrest them? From a legal perspective, yes. From a practical perspective, to state the reality, it does get kind of hard when they drastically outnumber us, and they have bigger guns than we do. We dont want to create warfare in the street.
Frey insisted that no one is above the law, pointedly including federal agents in his warning. He said he is working to find the best way to prevent these ICE agents from acting illegally while not causing a firestorm on the street.
To date, however, there has been no public evidence that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are acting outside the law in Minneapolis. The mayors rhetoric instead appears to reflect the broader left?wing hostility to immigration enforcement that has defined many Democrat?run sanctuary jurisdictions.
Freys comments, drawn from a transcript published by Real Clear Politics, also attempted to cast local police as overwhelmed and beleaguered. Give some credit to our police officers, because they are exhausted. They are working tirelessly. They are getting all kinds of calls. My friend or family member is being kidnapped. There is an illegitimate use of force taking place.
He added that the presence of federal agents is only one more burden on a short?staffed department. Not to mention, they have the regular day-to-day stuff that happens when ICE isnt here that they need to deal with. We have fewer officers per capita than we need, and so theyre doing a great job, but theyre tired.
Frey went on to frame his stance as part of a broader effort to rebuild trust between police and activist communities in the wake of the George Floyd incident, which triggered riots and a nationwide anti?police movement. We have worked so hard to generate trust between officers and community members over these last several years since George Floyd was murdered here. And weve made huge strides. I mean, community memberssome of the most intense activists who did not like cops very much, probably still dontare saying that our officers are doing the right thing.
Yet even as he praised his officers, Frey circled back to the notion that they could, in theory, place federal agents in handcuffs. But I think the question that youre getting to, which I have not wholly answered yet, is that youre basically asking: can our cops arrest them? From a legal perspective, yes. From a practical perspective, to state the reality, it does get kind of hard when they drastically outnumber us and they have bigger guns than we do.
He reiterated his desire to avoid open confrontation with Washington while still signaling resistance to federal enforcement. We dont want to create warfare in the street. We want to keep our communities safe. Were trying our very best to do that. So nobodyour police officers, ICE agents, civiliansnobody can act illegally. Nobody can.
Frey further claimed that his administrations priority is the safety of residents, even as federal investigators dig into the massive fraud that flourished on his watch and that of other state leaders. And where illegality is taking place, where people are being mistreated and hurt, our officers are going to be there to help the best they can to keep people safe.
For conservatives, the episode underscores a familiar pattern: progressive officials who preside over lax oversight and explosive fraud in welfare systems then turn their fire not on the scammers, but on the federal agents trying to restore order and uphold the law.
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