1 of 4 | Vice President JD Vance speaks during a meeting in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 9. He’s expected to travel to Minneapolis on Thursday and participate in a roundtable with community leaders. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
Vice President JD Vance on Thursday blamed local and state officials for what he described as “chaotic” federal immigration enforcement during a visit to Minneapolis.
His comments came after meeting with immigration enforcement officials and taking part in a roundtable with local leaders and community members.
The stated purpose of his trip was to restore “law and order” to the state amid an influx of thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agents to ramp up enforcement in Minnesota. The increase in federal agents in the state has been met with protests by civilians and concern — and at times outrage — by local leaders.
“Look, I don’t need [Minnesota Gov.] Tim Walz or [Minneapolis Mayor] Jacob Frey or anybody else to come out and say they agree with JD Vance or [President] Donald Trump on immigration,” he said during remarks to the media Thursday. “I just don’t need that.
“What I do need them to do is empower their local officials to help our federal officials out in a way where this can be a little bit less chaotic and it can be a little bit more targeted.”
Trump administration said it was specifically targeting Somalis with immigration enforcement in Minnesota after dozens were accused of creating businesses that defrauded the state by charging more than $1 billion in services for children that were never provided.
Local and state officials in Minnesota, as well as civilians, have taken issue with ICE agents’ tactics, which St. Paul police Chief Axel Henry described Tuesday as “clearly outside the bounds of what federal agents are allowed to do.” ICE and Border Patrol agents have been met by scores of protesters over the weeks of immigration enforcement.
On Jan. 7, residents of one neighborhood protested a convoy of federal immigration vehicles. One anti-ICE activist, Renee Good, blocked the ICE vehicles with her own and during an interaction with officers, one ICE agent shot and killed her. Federal authorities said Good tried to use her vehicle to run over the agent, but bystanders and local officials said it appeared as though she was trying to drive away from the scene.
Another ICE-involved shooting injured an undocumented Venezuelan man who allegedly fled during a traffic stop and, with two other men, assaulted an ICE officer.
In a news conference the day after Good’s fatal shooting, Vance described her death as a “tragedy of her own making.” He described the ICE agent who shot her, Jonathan Ross, as the real victim of the interaction.
“This is a guy who’s actually done a very, very important job for the United States of America. He’s been assaulted, he’s been attacked, he’s been injured because of it. He deserves a debt of gratitude,” Vance said.
In comments to NBC News on Thursday while in Toledo, Ohio, Vance said ICE officers will “make some mistakes.”
“My thought on that is, well, of course there have been mistakes made, because you’re always going to have mistakes made in law enforcement,” he said, adding that “99% of our police officers, probably more than that, are doing everything right.”
Vance said if people disagree with the Trump administration’s policies, they should protest him and the administration, “but do it peacefully.”
“If you assault a law enforcement officer, the Trump administration and the Department of Justice is going to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
Chicago protestors gather at ICE detention center
Protestors confront Illinois State Police near an ICE detention center as they protest against the immigration policies of the Trump administration in Chicago on October 17, 2025. Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI | License Photo
