‘What should they do?’: Trump’s deputy defends ICE after detention of 5-year-old child

Vice President JD Vance has delivered a sweeping defense of the thousands of federal agents leading an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis, saying “far-left agitators” and uncooperative local authorities are responsible for the chaos on the streets. Vance’s visit to the city marked a renewed effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to win public support for its immigration crackdown, amid signs that even some of the president’s supporters are growing uncomfortable with the aggressive tactics seen in Minneapolis, where dozens of heavily armed and masked officers have taken to the streets. Standing alongside federal agents and two Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicles bearing the slogan “Defend the Homeland,” Vance repeated his claim that Renee Good “ran over” an ICE agent with her car before he shot and killed the 37-year-old mother of three on January 7 — an episode that triggered weeks of unrest. “I think Renee Good’s death is a tragedy,” he said. “I also think she hit an ICE agent with her car.” Analysis of witness videos by Reuters and other outlets shows that the wheels of Good’s car were facing away from the agent, Jonathan Ross, and that his legs were out of the vehicle’s path at the time he fired. It is unclear whether the car actually touched Ross, but he did not fall during the incident and could be seen walking afterwards. Democratic leaders in Minnesota rejected Vance’s account, and state authorities opened an investigation into the shooting. — ### 5-YEAR-OLD BOY DETAINED In an incident that sparked a new wave of outrage, school officials in suburban Columbia Heights said Wednesday that immigration agents detained a 5-year-old boy on Tuesday. Vance accused the press of distorting the episode, claiming that the boy was left behind when his father tried to escape the agents. “What should they do?” he said. “Let a 5 year old freeze to death?” The child saw masked officers take his father from the home’s garage entrance, before pointing the boy to the back door and signaling for him to knock, according to Rachel James, a councilor who said she witnessed the incident. The boy ended up being removed from the scene. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said parents targeted in ICE raids are asked whether they want to take their children with them or leave them in the care of a designated person. The department said the boy’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, was in the country illegally, but did not provide details or mention a criminal history. A lawyer for the family said his clients, from Ecuador, were legally in the US and had applied for asylum in 2024. The lawyer denied that the father had tried to flee and said school authorities had offered to take the boy in. The mother remained inside the house at her husband’s request, the lawyer said, for fear of also being detained. — ### CITY IN TENSION Minneapolis has been experiencing a climate of tension as roving federal agents detain suspects who, according to them, are dangerous criminals in irregular immigration status, but sometimes end up approaching American citizens and law-abiding immigrants. They have faced crowds of protesters who make their own rounds, blow whistles to alert residents and shout at officers. Some officers responded with pepper spray and other chemical irritants. Democratic officials, including Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, have accused the government of deliberately trying to provoke unrest and said the presence of federal agents is creating chaos. Vance said local officials’ refusal to help immigration agents is to blame. “If we had a little cooperation from state and local law enforcement, I think the chaos would decrease a lot,” he said. Speaking separately to reporters later, Frey said city and state officials support cooperation with federal law enforcement to capture violent criminals “no matter where they come from” but not to “hunt down a family man who has done nothing wrong.” “If we are looking for an antidote to many of the problems we have faced in recent weeks, there is a very simple answer: this huge deployment of federal agents, from ICE and Border Patrol, needs to go,” the mayor said. He disputed Vance’s claim that local police were leaving federal agents vulnerable to harassment and interference. “We responded. Where safety was compromised, our officers stepped in to help.” Frey has also advocated for municipal laws that prohibit local police from directly assisting federal agents in enforcing immigration laws, a restriction that he and other advocates of so-called “sanctuary cities” say is essential to maintaining public trust in local law enforcement. Regarding Vance’s call for better communication with state and local officials, Frey said he did not receive an invitation from the vice president to meet during the visit. “Call me,” said the mayor. “JD Vance can feel free to get in touch.” Vance took a leading role in defending the shooting involving Good. Less than 24 hours after her death, he made a rare appearance in the White House press room, where he defended the agent, blamed Good and said the case should serve as a political test ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, which will define control of Congress. — ### THREE ARRESTED AFTER CHURCH PROTEST The government showed no signs of backing down in Minneapolis. Authorities reported Thursday that at least three people were arrested in connection with a demonstration that disrupted a Sunday service at a St. Paul church, where civil rights leaders alleged that a pastor is also a top local ICE official. There are about 3,000 federal law enforcement agents in Minnesota, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has described as the largest immigration operation in its history. The city is the latest Democratic-leaning jurisdiction that Trump has chosen as a target for a show of federal force. Vance said Thursday that Trump sees no need “at this time” to follow through on his threat to invoke the Insurrection Act, 19th-century legislation that gives the president power to send troops inside the U.S. to quell uprisings. Trump said he launched the operation in Minnesota in response to allegations of fraud involving some members of the state’s large Somali-American community. The president described Somali immigrants as “trash” and said they should be expelled from the country. — *(Reporting by Heather Schlitz in Minneapolis; additional reporting by Doina Chiacu, Gram Slattery, Brad Brooks, Jasper Ward, Bo Erickson and Andrew Goudsward; writing by Joseph Ax, Daniel Trotta and Steve Gorman; editing by Scott Malone, Deepa Babington, Rod Nickel and Edmund Klamann)*

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