Vice President JD Vance is expected to visit Minneapolis on Thursday to show support for a massive federal law enforcement operation underway in a city where protests and public debate have intensified since an ICE officer shot dead a 37-year-old mother of three.
With the city and the country deeply divided over the January 7 fatal shooting of Renee Good, the vice president's visit is meant to show support for the work of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE is part of a force of 3,000 federal law enforcement officers deployed to the area.
Minnesota has become the latest Democratic-leaning jurisdiction where President Donald Trump has authorized an expanded federal law enforcement presence.
The administration says the operation is aimed at immigration violators and a fraud investigation involving social service programs in the Somali community.
Trump and his supporters have described the federal police rollouts as a necessary response to lax Democratic policies on crime and immigration.
Local Democrat leaders and street protesters have accused ICE agents of aggressive tactics and racial profiling.
They have urged President Donald Trump to withdraw federal forces, arguing the operation is worsening divisions, a claim disputed by the administration.
Federal officers equipped for enforcement operations have been conducting enforcement operations across Minneapolis, rounding up suspects they say are dangerous criminal immigration violators.
The operations have sometimes affected some U.S. citizens not charged with crimes.
Demonstrators have responded with their own observer patrols, blowing whistles to warn people of ICE raids.
They have also voiced displeasure with what they see as Trump's escalation.
The operations have divided some of the president's own supporters.
Vance has taken a leading role in defending the Minnesota ICE shooting.
Less than 24 hours after Good's death, Vance stood up for the officer involved and said the officer acted in response to the woman’s actions.
He said the incident should be a political test ahead of the 2026 midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
The vice president will host a roundtable event with local leaders and community members, the White House said on Wednesday.
He will discuss "restoring law and order in Minnesota" and meet with officers in a show of support.
Vance will argue that Minneapolis’ policy of banning city staff from enforcing federal immigration law has degraded public safety.
The White House said he will also argue it has endangered ICE officers.
Vance is expected to discuss how the Trump administration is taking on so-called sanctuary cities.
Those cities could be cut off from federal funding starting on February 1, the White House said.
Richard Carlbom, chair of Minnesota's Democratic Party, said he hopes Vance will promote calm.
He said he fears political agitation instead.
“I think he is simply coming here for political theater,” Carlbom told Reuters.
“This entire situation we're being faced with is a retribution campaign by him and the president of the United States against Minnesotans.”
Carlbom called on Minnesotans to "continue to resist the vice president."
Trump addressed the Minnesota issue during his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
"ICE gets beat up by stupid people from leadership in Minnesota," Trump said.
“We actually are helping Minnesota so much, but they don’t appreciate it.”
Patty O'Keefe, a 36-year-old Minnesotan and non-profit worker, did not welcome Vance's visit.
She was pepper sprayed and detained by federal agents in January after documenting ICE movements in the city.
"He's calling for law and order when it's his federal agents who are creating chaos and escalating violence," O'Keefe said.
“His divisive rhetoric is not welcome here."
The president and the White House have tied the ICE operation to issues of welfare fraud in the state.
Since 2022, at least 56 people have pleaded guilty, according to the Justice Department.
“Minnesota reminds us that the West cannot mass import foreign cultures,” Trump said in Davos.
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