At a Thursday press conference in Minneapolis, Vice President J.D. Vance said the chaos unfolding in the city is the result of inadequate cooperation from local and state law enforcement. “We’re seeing this level of chaos only in Minneapolis,” Vance said. L.A. and Chicago, we had some problems there. Pretty much every jurisdiction where these guys are operating, you don’t see the same level of chaos. You don’t see the same level of violence. You don’t see the problems that we’re seeing in Minneapolis. Maybe the problem is unique to Minneapolis, and we believe that it is. And it’s a lack of cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal law enforcement.”

REPORTER: Your administration has said repeatedly this is about safety, about making Americans feel safer. So what do you say to people here in Minnesota who say it’s the overwhelming presence of ICE officers and federal officers and their tactics that are making them feel less safe? VICE PRESIDENT J.D. VANCE: Well, one thing I would say is, first of all, we saw in 2025 the biggest one-year drop in murders in the history of the United States of America. Significant reductions in violent crime. The reason why we have less violent crime is really two reasons. Number one, because we’re enforcing the immigration laws and getting very violent criminals out of our country. And number two, because we’re enforcing our criminal laws and putting guys who assault and murder behind bars. This is part of a broad effort to make us safe. And the chaos that people are seeing, and I understand there is frustration of the chaos, I’d say that we’re doing everything that we can to lower the temperature, and we would like federal and local, excuse me, state and local officials to meet us halfway. So much, so… REPORTER: Are you saying that they’re not perceiving it correctly? Are you saying that they’re seeing that it’s the tactics or the presence of the officers that are… VANCE: Look, I’m sure that people are seeing a lot of things that would make any member of our national community feel very upset. But I also think that if you understand this in context, this is the inevitable consequence of a state and local government that have decided that they’re not going to cooperate with immigration enforcement at all. In fact, they’re going to aggressively not cooperate. So here’s a basic illustration of this. If you are an ICE officer and you have to arrest a person who’s committed assault and is also an illegal alien, but the state and local officials won’t help you identify that person, many of the things that people in Minneapolis are seeing that give them pause, that frustrate them, that worry them, that make them feel like things are too chaotic, many of these things are coming from the fact that there’s no cooperation with state and local law enforcement. And I guess what I would tell people, again, many of whom are justifiably concerned and worried about what they’re seeing in their communities is why are we not seeing it anywhere else? We’re seeing this level of chaos only in Minneapolis. L.A. and Chicago, we had some problems there. Pretty much every jurisdiction where these guys are operating, you don’t see the same level of chaos. You don’t see the same level of violence. You don’t see the problems that we’re seeing in Minneapolis. Maybe the problem is unique to Minneapolis, and we believe that it is. And it’s a lack of cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal law enforcement.

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