Vance Visits Minnesota to Rally Behind ICE Amid Protests
Vice President Vance is heading to Minnesota on Thursday, and he’s not planning any peace offerings to Twin Cities officials and protesters opposed to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.
Why it matters: Vance’s planned events and speech underscore how the administration isn’t backing down from its controversial raids and stops that resulted in the fatal shooting of protester Renee Good and damaged President Trump’s poll numbers.
- “JD took Minnesota on as an issue where he’s going to lead. He wants a strong response,” an adviser said. “He doesn’t want to back down. Neither does the president.”
Zoom in: Vance plans to hold a roundtable with community leaders, give an exclusive interview to the conservative outlet Newsmax and then conduct a news conference where he’ll be flanked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
- Vance “will point out how Minneapolis’ sanctuary city policies have degraded public safety and endangered ICE officers.He will also celebrate the essential work ICE agents have done to take perilous,criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” a White House official said.
- Vance also is expected to emphasize the creation of a new Justice Department assistant attorney general position to oversee prosecuting large-scale fraud and abuse of taxpayer-funded programs.
Zoom out: The ostensible theme of Vance’s visit is to emphasize the administration’s “unwavering support” for ICE, but Trump advisers inside and outside the white House hope to continue shifting focus away from the unpopular enforcement actions and more toward prosecuting fraud.
- For six years, the Minneapolis and St. Paul have been gripped by sprawling fraud cases, many surrounding the Somalian community.
- Federal prosecutors and nonpartisan watchdogs warned for years that “inadequate” state oversight left several programs vulnerable to “industrial scale” waste and abuse.
- after recent reports about fraud in his state, Minnesota Gov. tim Walz announced he would not seek re-election.