Trump Accuses Frey of ‘Playing With Fire’

Two days after President Donald Trump spoke with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on the phone after a Border Patrol-involved shooting, Trump accused Frey of ignoring U.S. law.  

Frey is “PLAYING WITH FIRE,” according to Trump.  

“Surprisingly, Mayor Jacob Frey just stated that, ‘Minneapolis does not, and will not, enforce Federal Immigration Laws.’ This is after having had a very good conversation with him. Could somebody in his inner sanctum please explain that this statement is a very serious violation of the Law,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday.  

Frey fired back on X, writing, “[The] job of our police is to keep people safe, not enforce fed immigration laws. I want them preventing homicides, not hunting down a working dad who contributes to [Minneapolis and] is from Ecuador.”  

The Trump administration has repeatedly asked state and local authorities to adhere to federal immigration law and work with federal law enforcement to apprehend criminal illegal aliens. 

This includes allowing federal immigration officials to take criminal illegal aliens immediately into custody after they have served time in a county jail or state prison, instead of releasing them back onto the streets.  

Frey has consistently voiced criticism of Operation Metro Surge, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation that began in the Twin Cities area in December.  

Despite a reported positive call with Trump on Monday and a meeting with White House border czar Tom Homan on Tuesday, Frey has consistently declared that “Minneapolis does not and will not enforce federal immigration laws.”  

Pinned to the top of Frey’s X account is a Jan. 11 post reading: “Today is a good day for ICE to get out of Minnesota.”  

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., criticized Frey’s refusal to work with federal law enforcement, claiming “it doesn’t appear that Democrat elected officials will admit that the public is safer if they cooperate with, rather than obstruct, federal officials trying to clean up Democrat-created messes.”  

Trump made immigration a key political priority of his 2024 presidential campaign, vowing to enforce immigration law and deport illegal aliens. He took swift action to execute executive orders on immigration on his first day back in the Oval Office. 

Republicans in Washington, D.C., have largely supported the Trump administration’s immigration policies, but some have taken a noticeable shift in rhetoric following two fatal shootings of protesters by immigration enforcement agents in the Minneapolis area. Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, 37, on Jan. 24, and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, on Jan. 7.  

Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine, said Tuesday that she had spoken with the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about immigration enforcement. 

“I asked Secretary Noem to pause the operations in both Maine and Minnesota,” Collins said. “I believe they should be reviewed and far more targeted in their scope.”  

The Department of Homeland Security had announced Operation Catch of the Day in Maine last week.  

Collins says the pause in the immigration enforcement operations is necessary due to the current “heightened tensions.”  

Trump himself said, “We’re going to de-escalate a little bit,” during a Tuesday interview with Fox News on “The Will Cain Show,” while addressing the ICE operation in Minnesota.  

House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., announced Monday that the senior leaders of DHS, ICE, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will testify before members of Congress on Feb. 10.  

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