Washington’s latest showdown between federal immigration officers and Minneapolis politicians lays bare the dangerous game Democrats are playing with public safety. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons pushed back forcefully after Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey suggested ICE was responsible for half the shootings in the city, calling that claim “ridiculous” and politically charged. Ordinary Americans watching chaos on the streets expect leaders to calm tensions, not pour gasoline on them.
Lyons told Fox News’ The Sunday Briefing that no law enforcement officer wants to be involved in deadly-force incidents and that heated rhetoric only inflames passions and endangers lives. He made it clear that sweeping, unsubstantiated accusations against federal agents are reckless and undermine investigations and officer safety. If local officials cared about truth more than headlines, they would let the facts and investigations speak.
This dispute comes amid what ICE calls its largest-ever operation in Minnesota, a significant surge of federal resources aimed at rooting out criminal illegal immigration and social-services fraud. Lyons and DHS have defended the operation as a necessary enforcement of the rule of law in places where local governments have long turned a blind eye to criminal networks. If progressives won’t secure their cities, federal agents have no choice but to act—and conservatives should applaud enforcement, not faint at the sight of badges.
Meanwhile, the tragic death that sparked protests—the shooting of Renee Good—and Mayor Frey’s comments about a “deep mistrust” of federal investigations have been used to justify inflammatory claims about ICE’s role in city violence. Lyons and other officials repeatedly pushed back, saying the mayor’s “50 percent” assertion doesn’t hold up to basic crime statistics and video evidence. The political reflex to blame federal officers before investigations conclude is dangerous and dishonest.
Enough is enough with elected officials stoking mob fury for political advantage. Lyons has publicly demanded that politicians stop putting ICE agents in harm’s way with baseless accusations and theatrical language that paints them as “secret police.” Patriots who love law and order should stand with the men and women who enforce our laws and resist the left’s effort to delegitimize any agency that upholds border security and public safety.
If Minneapolis wants safer streets, the answer isn’t virtue signaling or blaming federal officers; it’s doing the hard work of supporting law enforcement, prosecuting real criminals, and stopping policies that incentivize lawlessness. The federal surge is focused on fraud and criminality, not political theater, and conservatives should demand accountability from local leaders who prefer headlines to results. American families deserve leaders who protect them, not ones who score cheap political points by undermining the very officers who keep them safe.
