A visibly angry Jacob Frey had a message for US immigration authorities and he didn’t hold back: “Get the f— out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here.”
The city’s Democratic mayor, just days into his third term, was speaking at a news conference on Wednesday after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents fatally shot a woman in a car during a traffic stop in a snowy residential neighbourhood.
US President Donald Trump and his allies cast it as an incident of self-defence, a view Frey called a “garbage narrative”.
“Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly – that is bullshit,” he said.
It is not the first time Frey has clashed with the Trump administration over its immigration crackdown.
The 44-year-old, who was re-elected as mayor of Minneapolis City Council for a final term in November, signed an executive order in December that prohibits city-owned parking lots, ramps, garages or vacant lots from being used for immigration enforcement operations.
According to Fox News, he has also assured the community that Minneapolis police will not gather information about people’s immigration status nor arrest anyone for being in the country illegally.
In March, he declared that Minneapolis, a so-called sanctuary city, would “continue to be a safe haven for undocumented immigrants” and the transgender community.
“Regardless of who you are or where you come from, Minneapolis is a place where you should be proud to call home,” he said at a town hall where he discussed federal government threats to cut funding if the city didn’t co-operate with its immigration policies.
According to his website, jacobfrey.org, Frey grew up in northern Virginia and graduated with a degree in government from the College of William and Mary before attending law school at Villanova University in Philadelphia. He moved to Minneapolis after graduation, working as an employment and civil rights attorney, having fallen in love with the city while running a marathon there, the site says.
Since being elected mayor in 2017, Frey has led the city during some of its greatest recent challenges, including the 2020 death in police custody of George Floyd and the protests over police violence that followed, and more recently, the shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School church in August. He faced criticism in some quarters for refusing to commit to defunding the police after Floyd’s killing, MS Now (formerly MSNBC) reported, but also oversaw changes such as banning use of chokeholds by police.
As mayor, he has consistently attracted opposition from the left, including city council members who say he has not gone far enough in supporting pro-Palestinian protesters or reforming the police department, according to MS Now.
Wednesday’s incident, which took place less than two kilometres from where Floyd died, comes after the Trump administration ramped up its immigration crackdown in the city, which is at least partly tied to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed on Wednesday that DHS had deployed more than 2000 officers to the area and said they had already made “hundreds and hundreds” of arrests.
Frey said the presence of federal immigration enforcement agents was causing “chaos in our city” and demanded they leave immediately.
“People are being hurt, families are being ripped apart, long-term Minneapolis residents who have contributed greatly to our city, to our culture, to our economy are being terrorised and now, someone is dead. That’s on you. It’s also on you to leave. It’s on you to make sure that further damage, further loss of life and injury is not done,” Frey said.
“We will pursue justice – and we will do so as quickly as possible.”
Staff reporter, with AP and Reuters
