Mayor Frey Says ICE Outguns Local Police

Adriana Stone 0 1 min read

Frey Says ICE Outguns Local Police?

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey appeared on The Bulwark podcast this week. The conversation turned to a sharp question: could local police arrest federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents if they acted illegally?

Frey gave a legal yes, but a practical no. He warned about numbers and firepower. Those lines are now getting a lot of attention.

MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR JACOB FREY: But I think the question that you’re getting to, which I have not wholly answered yet, is that you’re 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.
We don’t want to create warfare in the street. We want to keep our communities safe. We’re trying our very best to do that. So nobody—our police officers, ICE agents, civilians—nobody can act illegally. Nobody can.
We’re trying to find the best way to prevent these ICE agents from acting illegally while not causing a firestorm on the street. Am I saying it won’t happen? No, I’m not saying it won’t happen. What I’m saying is that I am in charge of keeping the peace and directing our police officers, and I have to keep everybody safe. So I can’t commit to anything.

TIM MILLER: It’s crazy that you’re even there, right? I can’t commit one way or another to how our law enforcement officials should deal with rogue federal law enforcement. And it’s like these are the “don’t tread on me” guys, and they have federal agents coming into your city, menacing your citizens who aren’t doing anything illegal.
And you have to have a separation-of-powers discussion in the mayor’s office. It’s crazy.

The exchange pulled on two threads. One is legal: cities generally can’t block federal agents from doing their jobs. The other is tactical: what happens if local and federal forces clash on the street?

Frey framed his answer around public safety. He said he won’t order police into a firefight just to make a point. That struck some critics as weak. Others said he was being practical and honest about the limits of a mayor’s power and the desire to avoid violence.

Conservative outlets and some local activists responded with calls for accountability. They said the remark shows poor leadership and demanded stronger action. Supporters cautioned that inviting conflict with federal agents could escalate into real danger for residents and officers.

Watchers will likely keep an eye on how Minneapolis handles any future federal enforcement actions. The balance between enforcing local policy, protecting residents, and navigating federal authority remains messy.

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