Minneapolis has become ground zero for the clash between federal immigration enforcement and sanctuary city policies.
Mayor Jacob Frey spent years building that confrontation.
And Minneapolis Mayor just admitted one scary detail about confronting ICE that has cops fuming.
Frey admits ICE agents outnumber Minneapolis police with bigger guns
Jacob Frey found himself in an impossible position of his own making.
The Minneapolis Mayor watched ICE agents flood into his city after years of refusing to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
Now he's caught between his sanctuary city promises and the reality that his police force can't match federal firepower.
Frey admitted the truth during an interview on The Bulwark podcast with Tim Miller.
When Miller asked whether Minneapolis police could arrest ICE agents acting illegally, Frey acknowledged what every cop already knew.
"Can our cops arrest them? From a legal perspective, yes," Frey said. "From a practical perspective, to state the reality, it does get kind of hard when they drastically outnumber us, and they have bigger guns than we do."
That's retreat mode.
The Mayor who told ICE to "get the f*** out of Minneapolis" after the Renee Good shooting now admits his police force is powerless to stop them.
"We don't want to create warfare in the street," Frey added.
But his policies already created it.
When local governments refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, they force ICE agents to conduct operations in the community rather than transferring custody at jails.
That puts everyone at greater risk.
Sanctuary city policy blocks Minneapolis police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement
Frey has been blocking Minneapolis police from working with ICE since 2020.
The city's "separation ordinance" prohibits officers from detecting the presence of illegal immigrants or arresting people for immigration violations.
Minneapolis police can't even use city parking lots or facilities for immigration operations.
Attorney General Pam Bondi sued Minnesota, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Hennepin County in September 2025 over these sanctuary policies.
The lawsuit argues these policies violate federal law and result in dangerous criminals being released back onto the streets.
"Not only are the sanctuary city policies illegal under federal law, but, as alleged in the complaint, Minnesota's, Minneapolis', St. Paul's, and Hennepin County's refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities results in the release of dangerous criminals from police custody who would otherwise be subject to removal," the DOJ stated.
The complaint listed illegal aliens convicted of aggravated assault, burglary, drug trafficking, and human trafficking who were released instead of being handed over to ICE.
Frey defended his policies by claiming he wants police focused on "stopping murders" and "preventing carjackings" instead of "hunting down a father who just dropped his kids off at day care."
But that's a false choice.
Nobody's asking Minneapolis police to hunt down the father going to work.
They're asking local police to notify ICE when they arrest illegal aliens for serious crimes instead of releasing them back into the community.
Minneapolis police caught between ICE operations and sanctuary policy after Renee Good shooting
Frey's officers are paying the price for his sanctuary stance.
They're responding to protests, preventing civil unrest, and fielding constant calls about ICE operations while being prohibited from coordinating with federal agents.
"Give some credit to our police officers, because they are exhausted," Frey said. "They are working tirelessly."
Those officers are being blamed for things they didn't do while trying to maintain order.
Frey spent years rebuilding trust after George Floyd's murder.
Now that trust is being tested by a crisis he created.
When you ban police from cooperating with federal law enforcement, you force confrontations in the streets instead of coordinated operations at jails.
You put officers in impossible positions where they're supposed to maintain peace but can't prevent anything.
And you end up admitting on a podcast that federal agents "drastically outnumber" your police and "have bigger guns."
That's not leadership.
That's surrender wrapped in virtue signaling.
Frey doesn't want his officers caught in the crossfire of a policy disaster he spent years building.
Sources:
- "Minneapolis Mayor Frey: Can Our Police Arrest ICE? Yes, But 'They Drastically Outnumber Us And Have Bigger Guns'," RealClearPolitics, January 12, 2026.
- Department of Justice, "Justice Department Sues Minnesota Over Sanctuary Policies," September 29, 2025.
- "What to know about the Minneapolis mayor who told ICE to 'get the f— out'," NBC News, January 7, 2026.
- "'They Killed Somebody': Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Deflects, Virtue Signals When Pressed Over Anti-ICE Rhetoric," The Daily Caller, January 11, 2026.
- "Minneapolis, Minnesota sue Trump administration over widespread immigration operations," CNN, January 12, 2026.