U.S. President Donald Trump issued a sharp warning on Wednesday to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, saying he was “playing with fire” after the Democratic mayor stated that the city would not cooperate with federal agents enforcing immigration laws.
Tensions remain high in Minneapolis, where observers and activists report that immigration raids over the past 24 hours have become more targeted and less confrontational. The city has been shaken by unrest following the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers, including the killing of 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti last Saturday, according to Reuters.
The Trump administration has signaled a possible shift in approach, dispatching border enforcement chief Tom Homan to take operational control from Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol official whose aggressive tactics have drawn widespread criticism.
A senior administration official said Homan’s arrival is expected to mark a move toward more focused and traditional enforcement operations, replacing the broad and highly visible raids previously carried out under Bovino’s leadership. However, it remains unclear how significantly conditions will change in Minneapolis, where federal agents have repeatedly clashed with protesters.
On Wednesday, ICE agents were seen across several parts of the city, moving in convoys of three vehicles with six to eight agents, knocking on doors of homes and businesses, and scanning surroundings—apparently searching for specific individuals.
According to observers, agents left the area when the targeted individual could not be located. In recent weeks, however, agents had reportedly stopped people at random and demanded proof of legal status, a practice that angered local communities and fueled tense confrontations.
In a separate development, Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs filed a diplomatic protest with the U.S. Embassy in Quito, stating that an ICE agent attempted to enter the Ecuadorian consulate in Minneapolis on Tuesday.
