File this one under "lost opportunities," as well as "some questions answer themselves."
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey appeared today on Fox & Friends to defend his lawsuit seeking to exclude ICE operations from his city. Griff Jenkins asks the obvious question in this infuriating exchange, wondering why Frey and Governor Tim Walz objects to the arrests of murderers and rapists who also are in this country illegally. Frey offers a combative riposte about immigration enforcement in the state of the Minnesota, claiming that ICE should focus their efforts on states with larger populations of illegals – such as Texas, Florida, or (amusingly) Utah.
There's one big problem with that argument. Well, two, actually:
Mayor Frey: “We are willing to work with people when it’s about murder and when it’s about crime, but the truth is that this ain’t about that…
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) January 14, 2026
Why is the largest-scale immigration enforcement action taking place where we don’t even have that many undocumented immigrants? Why… pic.twitter.com/EPloaNPQ03
“We are willing to work with people when it’s about murder and when it’s about crime, but the truth is that this ain’t about that…Why is the largest-scale immigration enforcement action taking place where we don’t even have that many undocumented immigrants? Why would it not take place in Texas or Florida?”
Or Utah! Why Utah, though? Utah's population of 3.5 million is only a little more than half that of Minnesota's 5.87 million, so Minnesota would be a more likely target of enforcement on Frey's incoherent basis. In fact, the greater metropolitan area of the Twin Cities itself has more people (3.7 million) than the entire state of Utah.
That's only one stupid appetizer to Frey's idiotic point, however. The reason ICE has to send teams in to find illegals with detainers to Minnesota and Minneapolis is that neither of them will cooperate with ICE on immigration enforcement. They have declared themselves sanctuary jurisdictions, refusing to hand over illegal aliens who have been arrested for actual crimes. Instead, they release these "criminal illegal aliens" back into their communities, even those with multiple arrests and convictions, and even those with transnational gang affiliations.
The Department of Homeland Security pointed this out yesterday in their response to the lawsuit from Frey and Walz (italics and bold in original):
Since President Trump took office, Governor Tim Walz has refused to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and released nearly 470 criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets of Minnesota. Today, DHS called on Governor Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey to put the safety of Minnesotans first and honor ICE arrest detainers of the more than 1,360 including violent criminals in the state’s custody.
“Governor Walz and Mayor Frey REFUSE to cooperate with ICE law enforcement and will not let us into their jails. They have released nearly 470 criminal illegal aliens including violent criminals back onto the streets of Minnesota. They have made it abundantly clear they are prioritizing politics over public safety. Minnesota's sanctuary politicians have chosen to side with criminal illegal aliens and ignored their American victims,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Just yesterday our law enforcement arrested rapists, armed robbers, and drug traffickers. We are doing what Governor Walz and Mayor Frey REFUSED to do—make Minnesota safe again.”
DHS then listed several illegal aliens detained in Monday's operations in the Twin Cities:
- Jai Vang, a criminal illegal alien from Laos convicted of armed robbery of a business.
- Meng Khong Yang, a criminal illegal alien from Laos with TWELVE criminal convictions including indecent exposure, possession of, manufacturing, and selling methamphetamine, selling cocaine, dangerous drugs, burglary, and fraud – impersonation.
- Joshua Fornoh, a criminal illegal alien from Liberia convicted of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and giving false information to a law enforcement officer.
- Rene Mercedes Hernandez, a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador convicted of sex assault and obstructing justice.
- Chia Yang, a criminal illegal alien from Laos convicted of possession with intent to distribute and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, theft of a motor vehicle, fleeing police in a motor vehicle, and driving after revocation.
- Irving Cadena Gonzalez, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico convicted of possession of cocaine, three counts of possession of marijuana, minor in possession of alcohol, and willful reckless driving.
Had Minnesota cooperated with ICE when these people first started committing crimes, they would have already been deported. And ICE wouldn't have had to go looking for them in Minneapolis neighborhoods.
That brings us to Frey's core idiocy. The reason ICE doesn't have to conduct such operations in Florida, Texas, and (presumably) Utah is that those states and cities already coordinate with ICE when detaining illegal aliens. ICE doesn't have to go out looking for them; those criminals get transferred to ICE control directly once detained, or at least at some point rather than getting released from custody. Had Frey really wanted to deal with illegal-alien sex offenders and gang members, he and his city wouldn't have granted them sanctuary and forced the federal government to seek them out, and thereby raising the risks for everyone involved.
Frey and Walz have granted sanctuary to murders, rapists, gang members, thieves, and drug dealers. Now they are finally facing the consequences for those choices.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left's lies, new legislation wasn't needed to secure our border, just a new president.
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