Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey took to the national stage this week to scold the Trump administration, accusing it of operating on the old maxim that “might makes right” while insisting America remains “a nation of immigrants” and defending the protestors who’ve surged into the streets of his city. Frey’s rhetoric is predictable: every time federal authorities act to enforce the law, local politicians rush to frame enforcement as cruelty and to absolve those who stand in the way of order. His posture isn’t leadership—it’s cheap virtue signaling that comforts mobs and punishes law-abiding citizens.
What this mayor fails to acknowledge is context: Minneapolis has been the scene of dramatic federal immigration operations, violent confrontations, and two fatal shootings that inflamed public outrage and forced a reckoning over tactics and authority. Videos and reporting show chaotic scenes—agents in tactical gear confronting crowds, arrests in public spaces, and citizens rightly asking tough questions about oversight and accountability. The consequence of political theater from city hall is not public safety; it’s more confusion and more danger for ordinary Minnesotans trying to get by.
Frey didn’t stop at pious platitudes. He publicly lashed out, calling federal actions reckless and using language that amounted to an open invitation for resistance rather than calming a tense situation. When local leaders tear down the legitimacy of federal law enforcement with incendiary rhetoric, they hand a propaganda victory to radicals and make it harder for officers to do their jobs legally and safely. Leadership means de-escalation and cooperation in investigations, not grandstanding that stokes the very disorder officials are supposed to prevent.
Meanwhile, conservative governors and law-and-order voices have been blunt: you don’t undermine enforcement and then cry foul when chaos follows. Republican officials have pointed to local obstruction and hostile rhetoric as part of the problem, arguing that public safety requires clear support for lawful operations and a refusal to coddle criminality. That is not an attack on immigrants; it is an insistence that a sovereign nation must control its borders and keep its streets safe for every neighbor who pays taxes and obeys the law.
Americans who work hard, play by the rules, and love their families deserve leaders who will defend their safety first, not politicians who grandstand for donors and activists. Saying “we are a nation of immigrants” while excusing lawlessness is a hollow claim if your policies and words reward lawbreakers and discourage police and federal agents from doing their jobs. Conservatives believe we can be compassionate toward lawful immigrants while still insisting on enforcement, order, and respect for citizens’ rights to safety and property.
It’s time for accountability at every level: independent investigations into any wrongdoing by federal agents, clear protocols so operations aren’t free-for-alls, and mayoral leadership that prioritizes the rule of law over headlines. If Minneapolis wants to be safe and prosperous, its leaders must stop treating federal enforcement as a political piñata and start building bridges to other levels of government so crimes are prosecuted and communities restored. The choice is simple for patriotic Americans: defend our laws and neighborhoods, or keep surrendering them to chaos dressed up as moral posturing.
