Untitled Document

[00:00:10] Good afternoon everybody. How we doing? [00:00:12] Good. So uh I want to thank the uh law [00:00:15] enforcement officers behind me for for [00:00:16] being here. I'll answer a few questions, [00:00:18] but I want to say just a few things at [00:00:20] the outset just about what I've learned [00:00:22] today and what I'm trying to do here. [00:00:23] You know, first of all, I I want to give [00:00:25] a shout out uh to the Annunciation [00:00:28] school shooting families because, you [00:00:30] know, the last time I was in [00:00:31] Minneapolis, it was, of course, to meet [00:00:32] with some of those families. I [00:00:33] understand that a couple of the students [00:00:35] have made near miraculous recoveries and [00:00:37] just that was a very special moment for [00:00:39] me to be invited uh into that community [00:00:41] at a time of grief. And I hope that all [00:00:42] of them know uh that though I didn't get [00:00:44] to see them this this particular time, [00:00:45] I've been thinking about them and their [00:00:46] families quite a bit. Now, to talk about [00:00:49] what I am I I am here to do, which is [00:00:52] federal law enforcement to enforce our [00:00:54] immigration laws. I want to say just a [00:00:55] few things. First of all, I wanted to [00:00:57] meet with business leaders, with ICE [00:00:59] officers, with local law enforcement to [00:01:01] try to understand a little bit better [00:01:03] what's going on so that we can tone down [00:01:06] the temperature a little bit, reduce the [00:01:07] chaos, but still allow us as a federal [00:01:10] government to enforce the American [00:01:12] people's immigration laws. That is the [00:01:13] purpose of my visit. Now, this is, you [00:01:15] know, step one or step two of that [00:01:16] process. There's going to be a lot of [00:01:18] work that follows through from here. I'm [00:01:19] happy to talk about that, but I I think [00:01:21] I learned a few things that were very [00:01:22] important. So, number one, one of the [00:01:24] things I learned is that the guys behind [00:01:26] me are doing an incredible job. And [00:01:29] frankly, a lot of the media is lying [00:01:31] about the job that they do every single [00:01:32] day. Now, that it doesn't mean that [00:01:34] there aren't occasionally stories out [00:01:36] there. There aren't occasionally videos [00:01:37] out there that suggest that these guys [00:01:40] or at least some of the people who work [00:01:41] for them are not doing everything right. [00:01:43] But very often if you look at the [00:01:45] context of what's going on, you [00:01:47] understand that these people are under [00:01:48] an incredible amount of duress, an [00:01:50] incredible amount of chaos. And because [00:01:52] of a few very far-left agitators, a lot [00:01:56] of these guys are unable to do their [00:01:58] jobs without being harassed, without [00:02:00] being doxed, and sometimes without being [00:02:01] assaulted. That's totally unacceptable. [00:02:03] And that's one of the things that I want [00:02:04] to send a message to is yes, come out [00:02:06] and protest. Protest me, protest our [00:02:08] immigration policy, but do it [00:02:10] peacefully. If you assault a law [00:02:12] enforcement officer, the Trump [00:02:14] administration and the Department of [00:02:15] Justice is going to prosecute you to the [00:02:17] fullest extent of the law. And I wanted [00:02:19] to show some support for these guys who [00:02:21] frankly are operating in a very, very [00:02:23] tough environment. I heard a lot of [00:02:24] stories today about that that I think [00:02:26] drives home just how chaotic the [00:02:29] environment on the ground here has [00:02:30] already gotten. For example, did you [00:02:31] know that within the last, I think, week [00:02:33] or so, maybe even more recently than [00:02:35] that, you had a couple of ICE officers [00:02:37] who were off duty, who had been doxed [00:02:40] online, who were sitting and having a [00:02:42] meal at a restaurant in Minneapolis when [00:02:43] a bunch of agitators showed up, locked [00:02:46] the door, made them feel like they were [00:02:48] in danger for their lives, and then of [00:02:50] course it was federal law enforcement [00:02:52] officers who had to come up, lower the [00:02:54] temperature on the situation, and [00:02:55] actually get those two offduty officers [00:02:58] to a point of safety. Now imagine if you [00:03:00] would your life and and your perspective [00:03:03] on law enforcement if you can't even go [00:03:06] to a restaurant without some agitators [00:03:09] locking the door and making you feel [00:03:10] like your life is in danger. That is the [00:03:12] environment that has been created, I [00:03:14] think, by a lot of very frankly far-left [00:03:18] people, but also by some of the state [00:03:20] and local law enforcement officials who [00:03:23] could do a much better job in [00:03:25] cooperating and working. And by the way, [00:03:27] I'm not talking about the cops who these [00:03:29] guys told me on the ground the cops are [00:03:31] very sympathetic to what they're dealing [00:03:32] with. I'm talking about the state and [00:03:34] local elected law enforcement officials [00:03:36] who could do a lot better job in making [00:03:39] their lives a little bit easier and in [00:03:41] the process they would make the lives of [00:03:43] all Minneapolis residents easier. And [00:03:45] that's what we want. We want to be able [00:03:47] to enforce the immigration laws on the [00:03:48] one hand while on the other hand we want [00:03:50] to make sure that people in Minneapolis [00:03:52] are able to go about their day. I want [00:03:53] to say just one last one last point on [00:03:55] this. So, I heard from a business leader [00:03:58] today who told me a very tough story. [00:03:59] And I I think so much of what's gone [00:04:01] wrong in Minneapolis is people not [00:04:04] trying to understand the perspective of [00:04:06] somebody else. Try to understand what [00:04:08] somebody else is experiencing, whether [00:04:10] they're a law enforcement officer or [00:04:12] anybody in the community here in [00:04:13] Minneapolis. So, they told me a story [00:04:16] about this manufacturing facility where [00:04:19] an illegal immigrant was being arrested [00:04:22] and as these employees are going into [00:04:24] the manufacturing facility, all of a [00:04:26] sudden an illegal immigrant shows up. [00:04:28] They don't know it's an illegal [00:04:29] immigrant and then a bunch of ICE [00:04:30] officers descend. Now, these people just [00:04:32] want to go to work. They want to go to [00:04:33] work safely and now all of a sudden [00:04:35] there's a major law enforcement [00:04:36] operation happening right outside their [00:04:38] place of business. Now, from one [00:04:40] perspective, I certainly understand why [00:04:42] a business leader or why an employee [00:04:44] would say, "Whoa, what's going on? It's [00:04:45] a little scary, no matter your position [00:04:47] in life, if a bunch of cop cars show up [00:04:49] and they're arresting somebody." Now, [00:04:51] the additional context is that we know [00:04:54] that people online have been encouraging [00:04:57] illegal immigrants that one way they can [00:04:59] evade arrest is by showing up at a [00:05:01] legitimate place of business, making it [00:05:03] impossible for these guys to actually [00:05:05] enforce our immigration laws. So, while [00:05:08] I can understand the perspective of [00:05:10] somebody who doesn't want to see an [00:05:11] arrest happen at their place of work, I [00:05:13] can also understand the perspective of [00:05:15] our immigration enforcement officers who [00:05:17] have to do their job and can't allow a [00:05:20] heckler's veto over our immigration [00:05:22] enforcement. And so much of what's gone [00:05:25] wrong is the failure to do that. And and [00:05:26] and here's here's the point. [00:05:29] We can do a good job of enforcing our [00:05:32] immigration laws without the chaos, but [00:05:34] it actually requires the cooperation of [00:05:36] state and local officials. If you look [00:05:38] at blue cities and blue states, red [00:05:40] cities and red states, you go to Austin, [00:05:42] Texas, or Memphis, Tennessee, you go to [00:05:45] the state of Texas, obviously a very red [00:05:47] state, or the state of Tennessee, a very [00:05:49] red state, but you got blue cities [00:05:50] within those states, you do not have [00:05:52] this level of chaos. The reason why [00:05:55] things have gotten so out of hand is [00:05:57] because of failure of cooperation [00:05:59] between the state and local authorities [00:06:02] and what these guys are trying to do. We [00:06:04] have a ton of resources, a ton of ICE [00:06:06] agents in this city right now that I [00:06:09] would rather us not have. I'd love to [00:06:10] send those guys home. They're not even [00:06:12] doing targeted immigration enforcement. [00:06:14] They are trying to protect ICE officers [00:06:17] who are doing immigration enforcement [00:06:19] because when a crowd surrounds them and [00:06:22] these guys call 911, the local [00:06:24] officials, the local cops have been told [00:06:25] to stand down. So, we have people here [00:06:28] who aren't even doing immigration [00:06:29] enforcement. They're doing force [00:06:31] protection so that if a rioter tries to [00:06:34] ruin the life or assault an ICE officer, [00:06:37] they're actually protected. Now, why [00:06:39] wouldn't it make more sense for the [00:06:41] local cops to get involved in that [00:06:43] situation? Why not just have the mayor [00:06:45] or the local officials tell the police [00:06:47] officers, "You know what? If an ICE [00:06:49] officer is being assaulted by a far-left [00:06:51] agitator, you are invited. You should [00:06:54] actually help them." That's what would [00:06:56] work out in any normal situation, and [00:06:58] that's what happens in nearly every [00:07:01] jurisdiction, red or blue, in the United [00:07:03] States of America. The reason it hasn't [00:07:06] happened here is because the local [00:07:07] authorities have been told, "Stand down. [00:07:10] Do not help ICE. Promote the violence. [00:07:12] promote the agitation but don't do [00:07:14] anything to lower the temperature and [00:07:16] lower the chaos. That's a problem. [00:07:18] Here's another example of how the lack [00:07:20] of cooperation between state and local [00:07:23] officials makes it harder for us to do [00:07:25] our job and turns up the temperature. [00:07:28] Let's say, for example, we have a [00:07:29] criminal migrant who is a sex offender. [00:07:32] And let's say that we've got to go and [00:07:34] arrest that person who, Democrat or [00:07:36] Republican, wants a sex offender living [00:07:38] in their community. I would assume, I [00:07:40] would hope that most people don't, but [00:07:42] because they're an illegal alien, we [00:07:43] don't know their last address. We may [00:07:45] have known their address three years [00:07:46] ago, but we don't know their address [00:07:48] now. What we'd like to do is talk to [00:07:51] local officials and say, you know what, [00:07:53] according to the Medicaid rules, where [00:07:55] was the last person this person or where [00:07:57] was the last address this person was [00:07:59] doiciled? Or according to a SNAP [00:08:01] application, a food stamps application, [00:08:03] maybe that could give us insight to [00:08:05] where this person is today. Or maybe [00:08:06] they had some local court trouble. We [00:08:08] could go to the local courthouse or even [00:08:10] the local jail and try to find where [00:08:12] this criminal sex offender is today. The [00:08:15] local authorities have been told, "Do [00:08:17] not cooperate." So, these guys are [00:08:18] trying to go out and enforce the law. [00:08:20] They're trying to arrest sex offenders, [00:08:22] but they're trying to do it in an [00:08:23] environment where local officials have [00:08:25] been told, "Do not help them. Do not [00:08:27] provide intelligence about where these [00:08:29] sex offenders might be." This is [00:08:31] disgraceful. And there are a lot of [00:08:33] things that all of us could do better to [00:08:34] lower the temperature. But the number [00:08:36] one thing that I learned today is that [00:08:38] the best way to facilitate reasonable [00:08:40] enforcement of the law, but also to [00:08:43] lower the chaos in Minneapolis would be [00:08:45] for state and local officials to [00:08:47] cooperate. Now, I will say on on one [00:08:49] final positive note, I actually think [00:08:52] that there's some hope, some reason to [00:08:54] think that there's going to be better [00:08:55] cooperation in the weeks and months to [00:08:57] come. I think that because I've talked [00:08:59] to some of the local officials here, I [00:09:00] think there are reasons to believe that [00:09:02] these people are going to step up and [00:09:04] actually ask the cops to protect our [00:09:06] ISIS officers when they're being [00:09:07] assaulted, who are going to ask the [00:09:09] local courts to cooperate with getting [00:09:11] criminal sex offenders out of our [00:09:13] community. That's a good thing. That's [00:09:15] the good news. And that's something I'm [00:09:16] going to work on when I get back to [00:09:18] Washington. But please, if you're a [00:09:20] local official, if you're the mayor of [00:09:23] this town, if you have any influence [00:09:25] over those people, just tell them to [00:09:27] cooperate because we could have [00:09:29] immigration enforcement operate as [00:09:31] smoothly and without the chaos that we [00:09:34] see in Austin, Texas or Memphis, [00:09:36] Tennessee, or even rural parts of the [00:09:38] state of Minnesota. All we need is a [00:09:40] little cooperation. And I guarantee [00:09:41] we're going to do the best to be [00:09:43] professional, to respect people's [00:09:45] rights, to not do anything that we don't [00:09:47] have to do in order to enforce [00:09:49] immigration laws, but it would make our [00:09:51] lives a lot easier. It would make our [00:09:53] officers a lot safer, and it would make [00:09:55] Minneapolis much less chaotic if we had [00:09:58] a little bit of cooperation from the [00:10:00] state and local officials. With that, [00:10:01] I'll shut up and take some questions. [00:10:02] Thank you guys. [00:10:05] A local school district here is alleging [00:10:07] ICE agents detaining a 5-year-old after [00:10:10] preschool on Tuesday. We've also seen [00:10:12] multiple American citizens detained uh [00:10:14] by ICE or harassed by ICE in the last 6 [00:10:17] weeks. Are you proud of how your [00:10:19] administration is conducting this [00:10:21] immigration crackdown here in Minnesota [00:10:23] right now? [00:10:23] >> Well, I'm proud of the fact that we're [00:10:25] standing behind law enforcement and I'm [00:10:27] proud of the fact that we're enforcing [00:10:28] the country's laws. But, you know, you [00:10:30] asked a question about this 5-year-old [00:10:31] kid. I actually saw this terrible story [00:10:34] while I was coming. to Minneapolis. We [00:10:36] just left Toledo, Ohio this morning for [00:10:38] an economic mess event. And I see this [00:10:40] story and I'm a father of a 5-year-old, [00:10:42] actually, a 5-year-old little boy. And I [00:10:43] think to myself, "Oh my god, this is [00:10:45] terrible. How did we arrest a [00:10:47] 5-year-old?" Well, I do a little bit [00:10:48] more follow-up research. And what I find [00:10:50] is that the 5-year-old was not arrested, [00:10:53] then his dad was an illegal alien. And [00:10:55] then they went when they went to arrest [00:10:57] his illegal alien father, the father [00:10:59] ran. So the story is that ICE detained a [00:11:03] 5-year-old. Well, what are they supposed [00:11:05] to do? Are they supposed to let a [00:11:06] 5-year-old child freeze to death? Are [00:11:08] they not supposed to arrest an illegal [00:11:11] alien in the United States of America? [00:11:13] If the argument is that you can't arrest [00:11:15] people who have violated our laws [00:11:18] because they have children, then every [00:11:20] single parent is going to be completely [00:11:22] given immunity from ever being the [00:11:24] subject of law enforcement. That doesn't [00:11:26] make any sense. No one thinks that makes [00:11:28] any sense. Now you you know there are so [00:11:30] many of these cases like that where if [00:11:32] you just understand the context there [00:11:34] have been a number of situations that [00:11:35] I've looked into personally where I say [00:11:37] wait a second we don't want ICE in [00:11:39] arresting American citizens. They're [00:11:41] supposed to be enforcing the immigration [00:11:43] laws against illegal aliens. So then I [00:11:45] look into it and I find out that the [00:11:47] American citizen who was arrested took a [00:11:50] swing at an ICE officer. You can't have [00:11:52] that happen. And of course, they have to [00:11:54] defend themselves. And of course, they [00:11:56] have the right to detain somebody who [00:11:58] assaults a law enforcement officer. Now, [00:12:01] this is my point. Do we want these [00:12:03] things to happen? Do we want these [00:12:05] arrests to be so chaotic? No, we don't. [00:12:08] These guys want it least of all. But if [00:12:10] we had a little cooperation from local [00:12:12] and federal, excuse me, from local and [00:12:14] state officials, I think the chaos would [00:12:16] go way down in this community. [00:12:19] >> President, [00:12:20] >> go ahead. [00:12:22] After the Renee Good shooting, sir, uh, [00:12:24] the administration seems to [00:12:26] >> Yeah, you can go next. [00:12:26] >> Oh, no. I'm sorry. I thought you [00:12:28] pointed. [00:12:28] >> No, that's fine. You I'll take both. [00:12:29] >> After the Renee Good shooting, sir, the [00:12:31] administration seems to after the Renee [00:12:34] Good shooting, the administration seemed [00:12:35] to suggest that ICE officers enjoyed [00:12:37] near complete immunity. But today, you [00:12:40] told the Washington Examiner that when [00:12:42] appropriate, the administration might [00:12:43] take disciplinary actions against ICE [00:12:45] agents. So, is that a change in opinion? [00:12:47] And if so, why the change in tone? No, I [00:12:49] I I I didn't say and I don't think any [00:12:51] other official within the Trump [00:12:52] administration said that officers who [00:12:54] engaged in wrongdoing would enjoy [00:12:56] immunity. That's absurd. What I did say [00:12:58] is that when federal law enforcement [00:12:59] officers violate the law, that is [00:13:01] typically something that federal [00:13:02] officials would look into. We don't want [00:13:04] these guys to have kangaroo courts, we [00:13:06] want them to actually have real due [00:13:08] process, real investigation because [00:13:10] again, sometimes they're accused of [00:13:11] wrongdoing and it turns out when you [00:13:13] learn the context, they didn't actually [00:13:14] do anything wrong. But of course, we're [00:13:16] going to investigate these things. Of [00:13:18] course, we're investigating the Renee [00:13:19] Good shooting, but we're investigating [00:13:21] them in a way that respects people's [00:13:23] rights and that ensures that if somebody [00:13:25] did something wrong, yes, they're going [00:13:26] to face disciplinary action, but we're [00:13:28] not going to judge them in the court of [00:13:30] public opinion. I've spoken at length on [00:13:32] this particular case. I think that Renee [00:13:33] Good's death is a tragedy. I also think [00:13:36] that she rammed an ICE officer with her [00:13:38] car. So, there are the tragedy here is [00:13:41] multi-layered. The tragedy is there was [00:13:43] a misunderstanding. The tragedy is that [00:13:45] Renee Good lost her life. The tragedy is [00:13:47] that you have ICE officers who are going [00:13:49] into communities where they're worried [00:13:51] that if they call 911, no one's going to [00:13:53] come to help them. That is what produces [00:13:56] this terrible situation. And it's [00:13:58] something state and local officials here [00:13:59] in Minnesota could solve. [00:14:01] >> Mr. Could you give us a message for life [00:14:04] tomorrow [00:14:07] and values? It's a shame that kids have [00:14:09] to get caught up in all this and uh you [00:14:12] know towards towards that, sir. Well, [00:14:14] you know, it is a shame that kids have [00:14:15] to get caught up in this. I am speaking [00:14:17] at March for Life tomorrow. I'm pro-life [00:14:18] and I'm very excited to speak there. I [00:14:20] want to talk about local law [00:14:21] enforcement, but you know, I I mean, [00:14:22] look, I I am [00:14:24] as a child, I saw people in my family [00:14:27] get arrested. It's terrible. It's [00:14:29] heartbreaking. It's chaotic. It's [00:14:30] traumatic for the kids. I can recognize [00:14:33] that and I can recognize that we got to [00:14:35] support these kids while on the other [00:14:36] hand saying that just because you're a [00:14:38] parent doesn't mean that you get [00:14:40] complete immunity from law enforcement. [00:14:42] And I think we have to hold both of [00:14:43] those thoughts in in our head at the [00:14:45] same time. We've got to be sympathetic [00:14:46] to the kids who are caught up in some of [00:14:48] these enforcement actions. We've also [00:14:49] got to say we have to enforce the law [00:14:52] without bias with fairness, but we've [00:14:54] got to enforce THE LAW. [00:14:56] >> MR. VICE PRESIDENT, [00:14:59] um there was a powerful collectively [00:15:07] working with these local agencies. What [00:15:09] are those? [00:15:11] You said there was an altercation in St. [00:15:13] Cloud. [00:15:15] >> Yeah. After the incident, the mayor said [00:15:17] that [00:15:19] they were in the city operation. [00:15:24] Talk a little bit about proactive [00:15:26] communication. [00:15:28] >> Yeah, it's actually it's one of the [00:15:29] takeaways. I've talked with these guys [00:15:30] before we came on the stage, but during [00:15:32] our round table and some of the other [00:15:33] conversations we've had, communication, [00:15:35] we we absolutely want to ensure there's [00:15:37] good communication between federal [00:15:39] officials and state and local officials. [00:15:41] And I'm sure that we can do better on [00:15:42] that. We absolutely want to make sure [00:15:44] that we are communicating, but that also [00:15:46] requires a two-way street. And that's [00:15:47] the point that I make about state and [00:15:49] local officials. These guys will [00:15:51] absolutely communicate with state and [00:15:53] local officials. They'll tell people if [00:15:55] if they're they have to do an [00:15:57] enforcement operation in a particular [00:15:58] municipality. But part of that is they [00:16:01] also want to ensure that if they're [00:16:03] communicating about their whereabouts, [00:16:04] that's not being used as a weapon [00:16:06] against them. Sometimes they tell people [00:16:07] where they're going and then they find [00:16:09] out that their agents faces are on the, [00:16:11] you know, on Reddit or on some social [00:16:13] media thread saying, "Here's this guy. [00:16:15] We know he's going to be at this place [00:16:16] at this exact time." So that [00:16:18] communication has got to be a two-way [00:16:20] street. These guys are going to [00:16:21] communicate with business leaders, with [00:16:23] local officials, with with state [00:16:24] officials. But we also need the local [00:16:26] officials and state officials to do a [00:16:28] good job of protecting people when [00:16:31] they're in their communities. We're not [00:16:32] we're not asking, by the way, we don't [00:16:33] want any police officer in this [00:16:35] community, in this state, to help us do [00:16:38] immigration enforcement. We've got that. [00:16:40] But if but but but if but if a protester [00:16:43] shows up and that protester turns [00:16:45] violent against our immigration [00:16:46] officers, we really really need the [00:16:48] cooperation of our local partners. We [00:16:51] haven't gotten it yet, but I think if we [00:16:52] do, we really can lower the temperature [00:16:57] today [00:17:01] without [00:17:08] >> Yeah. So I I I saw that story and the [00:17:11] story is like so much that I read in the [00:17:13] mainstream media, it's missing a whole [00:17:14] lot of context. And when you appreciate [00:17:16] the context, it makes sense. No one is [00:17:18] saying, look, there there are [00:17:20] exceptions. For example, a crazy [00:17:22] exception. If somebody is fired at from [00:17:25] inside a house, they don't need a [00:17:27] warrant to go inside that person's [00:17:28] house. There are very narrow exceptions [00:17:30] to the warrant requirement where law [00:17:32] enforcement officers don't need a, you [00:17:34] know, a warrant if, for example, they're [00:17:36] an imminent threat of their lives. But [00:17:38] what we've said and what ICE has [00:17:40] proposed, what what the Department of [00:17:42] Homeland Security really has proposed in [00:17:43] the Department of Justice is that we can [00:17:45] get administrative warrants to enforce [00:17:48] administrative immigration law. Now, [00:17:50] it's possible, I guess, that the courts [00:17:52] will say no. And of course, if the [00:17:53] courts say no, we would follow that law. [00:17:55] But nobody is talking about doing [00:17:57] immigration enforcement without a [00:17:58] warrant. We're talking about different [00:18:00] types of warrants that exist in our [00:18:01] system. Typically what happens, not [00:18:03] always, but typically in the immigration [00:18:05] system, those are handled by [00:18:07] administrative law judges. So we're [00:18:09] talking about getting warrants from [00:18:11] those administrative law judges. And [00:18:13] then of course with other cases, you get [00:18:14] judges or you get warrants from a judge. [00:18:17] That's very consistent with the practice [00:18:18] of American law. I'm sure the courts [00:18:20] will weigh in on that, but we're never [00:18:22] going to enter somebody's house without [00:18:24] some kind of a warrant, unless of course [00:18:26] somebody's firing on an officer or they [00:18:28] have to do something in order to protect [00:18:30] themselves. Go ahead. Do you believe [00:18:32] that you can enter with an [00:18:34] administrative warrant or would that be [00:18:36] a violation? [00:18:37] >> Well, our understanding is that you can [00:18:40] enforce the immigration laws of the [00:18:42] country under an administrative order if [00:18:45] you have an administrative war. That's [00:18:46] what we think. That's our understanding [00:18:48] the law. That's our best faith attempt [00:18:49] to understand the law. Again, this is [00:18:51] something courts will weigh in on. I [00:18:53] won't speak to that. But yes, most [00:18:55] immigration law in our country is not [00:18:57] done through the criminal system with [00:18:58] the judge. It's done through the [00:19:00] administrative law system. We're going [00:19:02] to continue that practice just as they [00:19:03] did in the Biden administration or any [00:19:05] other administration. [00:19:08] >> Was there anything that you heard or saw [00:19:09] today that would [00:19:12] invoke the act? And then also did you [00:19:15] meet or [00:19:20] >> I did not talk to him today. I talked to [00:19:21] some of his colleagues. Um you know your [00:19:23] your question on the insurrection act is [00:19:25] interesting. I I've tried to understand [00:19:27] this as as well as I possibly could and [00:19:29] my understanding is that what the [00:19:31] insurrection act what invoking the [00:19:32] insurrection act would allow the federal [00:19:34] government to do is that would allow the [00:19:37] federal government to use the military [00:19:38] for local law enforcement operations. [00:19:40] Right now we don't think that we need [00:19:42] that. Now the president could change his [00:19:44] mind of course things could get worse [00:19:45] but right now we think that federal law [00:19:48] enforcement officers can do the job of [00:19:50] federal law enforcement. Now, what I do [00:19:52] worry about again is if the chaos gets [00:19:54] worse, if more and more ICE agents start [00:19:56] getting assaulted, if other law [00:19:57] enforcement officers start getting [00:19:58] assaulted, that would be a real problem. [00:20:01] But again, we have so much federal law [00:20:04] enforcement resources here right now. We [00:20:05] have so many people here that we do not [00:20:07] want to have here. I do not want so many [00:20:09] ICE officers in Minneapolis right now. I [00:20:12] mean, good lord, it's really, really [00:20:13] freaking cold outside. But they're here [00:20:16] not even to enforce immigration laws, [00:20:18] but to protect the people from the [00:20:20] rioters. That's an absurd state of [00:20:22] affairs, and we wouldn't need it if we [00:20:24] had a little bit more cooperation from [00:20:26] the Minneapolis Police Department. [00:20:27] Again, the Minneapolis Police [00:20:29] Department, my understanding is that the [00:20:31] actual beat cops on the ground, they [00:20:33] would love to help out, but they're [00:20:34] being told by somebody, I don't know if [00:20:36] it's Mayor Frey, they're being told by [00:20:38] somebody not to cooperate at all. What [00:20:40] kind of a person tells their local [00:20:42] police, "Don't protect somebody if [00:20:44] they're being assaulted by a riider?" [00:20:46] It's crazy and it's got to stop. [00:20:49] >> Earlier this week, earlier this week, [00:20:51] local law enforcement accused federal [00:20:52] agents of racial profiling. Why are [00:20:54] there so many US citizens being caught [00:20:56] up in these operations? [00:20:58] Well, I think your question assumes [00:21:00] something that's not necessarily an [00:21:01] evidence, which is that when there are [00:21:03] American citizens who have been caught [00:21:04] up in some of these enforcement [00:21:05] operations, very often it is people who [00:21:07] have assaulted a law enforcement [00:21:09] officer. They're not being arrested [00:21:12] because they violated the immigration [00:21:13] laws. They're being arrested because [00:21:15] they punched a federal law enforcement [00:21:17] officer. That is a totally reasonable [00:21:19] thing. Now, to the accusation of racial [00:21:21] profiling, you know, look, it's [00:21:23] something that we take very seriously. [00:21:24] We will take accusations of racial [00:21:26] profiling back to Washington. We'll [00:21:28] certainly look into them as they come [00:21:30] up. But this is not a group that's going [00:21:32] around and looking for people who [00:21:34] violated the law based on skin color. [00:21:37] They're looking for people who violated [00:21:39] the actual law, the law of our [00:21:40] immigration system in this country. And [00:21:42] so long as we had more cooperation, I [00:21:45] think they could do these things in a [00:21:46] much more targeted way. They would [00:21:47] actually know where some of the bad guys [00:21:49] are. I mean, again, you hear things that [00:21:52] are hard to believe, but I've confirmed [00:21:54] that they are true. Sex offenders, sex [00:21:57] offenders who we're trying to get off [00:21:59] the streets who the local officials [00:22:01] won't tell us their last known address. [00:22:03] So then the local officials say, "Oh my [00:22:05] god, these guys are doing widespread [00:22:08] targeted enforcement operations." When [00:22:10] in reality, we would love to just go to [00:22:12] one house. The local officials won't [00:22:14] tell us which one house to go to. [00:22:16] >> Mr. Vice President, [00:22:18] >> Mr. Mr. President, to that question, the [00:22:20] local police chiefs have set their own [00:22:23] offduty officers, so police officers are [00:22:27] being targeted because they are a person [00:22:29] of color and asked to show their papers. [00:22:32] Is that a concern of the administration, [00:22:35] the Department of Homeland Security, if [00:22:36] local law enforcement says their own [00:22:38] officers are being targeted and they [00:22:40] described it as quote, civil rights [00:22:42] violations in our streets. So I I saw [00:22:44] one story about this and one local [00:22:46] police officer who said this and look [00:22:48] certainly is it a concern? Absolutely. [00:22:50] The first thing we have to figure out is [00:22:51] whether it happened or not and then if [00:22:53] it happened whether there is a good [00:22:54] explanation or a bad explanation and of [00:22:56] course if somebody violated the law if [00:22:58] somebody racially profiled if somebody [00:23:00] violated the rights of one of our fellow [00:23:02] citizens that is something we will take [00:23:04] very seriously. What what I also would [00:23:06] say is that many of the most viral [00:23:08] stories of the past couple of weeks have [00:23:10] turned out to be at best partially true. [00:23:13] So we want to try people based on [00:23:16] reality, based on the truth, based on [00:23:18] context. We're not going to prejudge [00:23:20] people just because a viral social media [00:23:22] story that turned out to be half false. [00:23:24] >> Question [00:23:27] about the round table presume that [00:23:29] happened. Did you invite anybody with an [00:23:32] opposing point of view to get an idea of [00:23:34] why people are upset here? And just as a [00:23:37] quick followup, have you reached out to [00:23:39] Governor Walls at all in an attempt to [00:23:41] turn down the [00:23:42] >> So, I haven't talked to Governor Walls [00:23:43] on this particular trip. Um, a number of [00:23:46] me members of our administration. I [00:23:47] believe our chief of staff spoke to the [00:23:49] governor and has been in constant [00:23:50] contact with his staff over the past [00:23:52] week. We've been at at at in my office [00:23:54] in constant contact with people here on [00:23:56] the ground in Minneapolis. There were [00:23:57] certainly people at our round table with [00:23:59] opposing views and look I don't even [00:24:01] know you know what whether it's public [00:24:03] but but yes we we met with people with [00:24:05] opposing views here at the round table. [00:24:07] I wanted to get a perspective from [00:24:08] everybody but also of course offer my [00:24:10] opinion that with a little bit more [00:24:12] cooperation we could lower the chaos. [00:24:13] We're going to keep on doing that. If [00:24:15] Governor Walls wants to call me uh we'll [00:24:17] absolutely continue talking. I will say [00:24:19] that my sense of this situation having [00:24:22] talked to these guys for a long time is [00:24:23] this is primarily a law enforcement [00:24:25] issue. This is the attorney general. [00:24:27] This is the local mayor. This is all of [00:24:30] the organs of local and state law [00:24:31] enforcement. That's who we focus on, but [00:24:33] we've certainly been in communication [00:24:34] with the governor and his office as [00:24:36] well. [00:24:37] >> Vice President. [00:24:37] >> Yeah. [00:24:38] >> So, local law enforcement obviously has [00:24:40] been really helping out uh with the [00:24:42] agents who've been assaulted repeatedly. [00:24:44] What's the plan if nothing changes there [00:24:45] here locally and this operation has [00:24:47] affected thousands of agents? Are there [00:24:49] any plans to go to any other cities from [00:24:51] here? Well, right now we're focused on [00:24:53] Minneapolis because that's where we have [00:24:55] the highest concentration of people who [00:24:56] have violated our immigration laws and [00:24:58] that's al also frankly where we see the [00:25:00] most assault of our law enforcement [00:25:02] officers. I mean, our plan is very [00:25:03] simple. If you assault a federal law [00:25:05] enforcement officer, we are going to do [00:25:06] everything that we can to put you in [00:25:08] prison. It's very simple. And most of [00:25:09] these protesters, as as much as I may [00:25:11] disagree with their politics, most of [00:25:13] them have been peaceful, but a lot of [00:25:15] them have not been peaceful. And if you [00:25:17] go and storm a church, if you go and [00:25:19] insult a federal law enforcement [00:25:21] officer, we are going to try very hard. [00:25:23] We're going to use every resource of the [00:25:24] federal government to put you in prison. [00:25:26] Respect people's rights. Respect [00:25:28] people's rights to worship. Respect [00:25:30] people's rights to do their job without [00:25:31] being assaulted. If you follow that [00:25:33] basic principle, the Trump [00:25:35] administration is going to do everything [00:25:36] that we can to protect your rights. But [00:25:38] if you go after somebody, if you assault [00:25:40] somebody, if you make a 9-year-old girl [00:25:42] cry because you walked into a church and [00:25:44] harassed her, we're going to go after [00:25:46] you with every single tool that we have. [00:25:48] >> President with NBC News. Sir, your [00:25:50] administration has said repeatedly this [00:25:51] is about safety, about making Americans [00:25:54] feel safer. So, what do you say to [00:25:56] people here in Minnesota who say it's [00:25:58] the overwhelming presence of ICE [00:25:59] officers and federal officers and their [00:26:01] tactics that are making them feel less [00:26:04] safe? Well, one thing I would say is [00:26:05] first of all, we saw in 2025 the biggest [00:26:08] one-year drop in murders in the history [00:26:10] of the United States of America. [00:26:12] Significant reductions in violent crime. [00:26:14] The reason why we have less of violent [00:26:16] crime is really two reasons. Number one, [00:26:18] because we're enforcing the immigration [00:26:19] laws and getting very violent criminals [00:26:21] out of our country. And number two, [00:26:23] because we're enforcing our criminal [00:26:24] laws and putting guys who assault and [00:26:26] murder behind bars. This is part of a [00:26:28] broad effort to make us safe. and the [00:26:30] chaos that people are seeing. And I [00:26:32] understand there is frustration of the [00:26:34] chaos. I I I'd say that we're doing [00:26:36] everything that we can to lower the [00:26:38] temperature and we would like federal [00:26:39] and and local, excuse me, state and [00:26:41] local officials to meet us halfway. So [00:26:43] much so [00:26:45] >> are you saying that they're not [00:26:46] perceiving it correctly? Are you saying [00:26:48] that they're not seeing that the tactics [00:26:50] or the presence of the officers that are [00:26:52] >> Look, I I'm sure that people are seeing [00:26:53] a lot of things that would make any [00:26:55] member of our national community feel [00:26:57] very upset. But I also think that if you [00:26:59] understand this in context, this is the [00:27:01] inevitable consequence of a state and [00:27:03] local government that have decided that [00:27:05] they're not going to cooperate with [00:27:07] immigration enforcement at all. In fact, [00:27:08] they're going to aggressively not [00:27:10] cooperate. So here, I mean, here's [00:27:12] here's a a basic illustration of this. [00:27:14] If you are an ICE officer and you have [00:27:17] to arrest a person who's committed [00:27:19] assault and is also an illegal alien, [00:27:21] but the state and local officials won't [00:27:22] help you identify that person, many of [00:27:25] the things that that people in [00:27:27] Minneapolis are seeing that give them [00:27:29] pause, that frustrate them, that worry [00:27:31] them, that make them feel like things [00:27:32] are too chaotic, many of these things [00:27:34] are coming from the fact that there's no [00:27:36] cooperation with state and local law [00:27:38] enforcement. And I and I guess what I [00:27:40] would I would tell people again, many of [00:27:41] whom are justifiably concerned and [00:27:43] worried about what they're seeing in [00:27:44] their communities is why are we not [00:27:46] seeing it anywhere else? We're seeing [00:27:48] this level of chaos only in Minneapolis, [00:27:51] LA, and Chicago, we had some problems [00:27:53] there. Pretty much every jurisdiction [00:27:56] where these guys are operating, you [00:27:58] don't see the same level of chaos. You [00:27:59] don't see the same level of violence. [00:28:01] You don't see the problems that we're [00:28:03] seeing in Minneapolis. Maybe the problem [00:28:05] is unique to Minneapolis, and we believe [00:28:07] that it is. And it's a lack of [00:28:09] cooperation between state and local law [00:28:11] enforcement and federal law enforcement. [00:28:13] Sir Omar, CNN, uh, ICE has been [00:28:16] operating here for years with with less [00:28:18] push back than than we're seeing right [00:28:20] now. And even the St. Paul police chief [00:28:22] recently said, "Is there not a way to [00:28:24] find common ground without scaring the [00:28:26] hell out of people in the community?" [00:28:27] Those are his words. And I just wonder [00:28:29] with this operation metro surge, is any [00:28:32] part of it meant to send send a form of [00:28:34] political message to the leaders here in [00:28:36] Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota? [00:28:38] And I know you talked about you've been [00:28:39] in touch with the governor's offices and [00:28:41] the mayor's offices. Uh but but why have [00:28:44] you not been able to speak to them [00:28:46] directly? Uh have they not been willing [00:28:49] to do so? [00:28:50] >> Well, look, I have spoken to some of the [00:28:51] people in Minnesota directly. I spoke to [00:28:53] some of them today. I've spoke to others [00:28:55] uh in the past. And again, our staff has [00:28:57] been in very direct contact with pretty [00:28:58] much every official with any influence [00:29:00] or any power in Minneapolis. But no, [00:29:02] we're not trying to send a political [00:29:03] message. We're trying to enforce the [00:29:04] law. And unfortunately, what has [00:29:06] happened is that as we've enforced the [00:29:08] law, there's been this weird reaction, [00:29:12] again, unique to this city. This is not [00:29:14] a common thing across the United States [00:29:16] of America. There's been a very unique, [00:29:18] very Minneapolis specific reaction to [00:29:20] our enforcement of federal immigration [00:29:21] laws. What I'm trying to do here today [00:29:23] is understand why that is. What is it [00:29:25] about Minneapolis that has become so [00:29:27] chaotic? What are the specific types of [00:29:29] cooperation that we need? Look, I don't [00:29:31] need Tim Walls or Jacob Frey or anybody [00:29:33] else to come out and say that they agree [00:29:34] with JD Vance or Donald Trump on [00:29:36] immigration. I just don't need that. [00:29:38] What I do need them to do is empower [00:29:40] their local officials to help our local [00:29:43] or help our federal officials out in a [00:29:46] way where this can be a little bit less [00:29:48] chaotic and it can be a little bit more [00:29:49] targeted. Like if we're trying to find a [00:29:51] sex offender, tell us where the guy [00:29:52] lives. Simple things like that, simple [00:29:55] changes in how they're approaching [00:29:57] immigration enforcement would make this [00:29:59] work a lot better. It would make [00:30:00] Minneapolis's streets a lot safer and it [00:30:03] would make this whole thing a lot less [00:30:05] traumatic for this community. I'll take [00:30:06] one more question. Mr. [00:30:07] >> Vice President, President, you said that [00:30:09] it's time to turn down the temperature. [00:30:11] Does that include changes to both ICE [00:30:14] and tactics that we see employed on the [00:30:17] streets, including less than legal [00:30:18] tactics, pepper spray, pepper ball? [00:30:20] Beyond that, what is the federal [00:30:22] government's role in turning down the [00:30:24] temperature? And the Minnesota [00:30:26] Department of Correction says that its [00:30:28] own officers have been cooperating with [00:30:30] ICE all along, handing over criminals [00:30:33] once they serve their sentences to ICE [00:30:36] officials. And you concede that there is [00:30:38] some cooperation with the state. [00:30:40] >> Yeah, look, if I was going to list the [00:30:42] five agencies locally and statewide that [00:30:44] I'm most worried about, I wouldn't put [00:30:46] the Department of Corrections on that [00:30:47] list. I think that while there are [00:30:49] certain things we'd like to see more [00:30:50] from them, they've hardly been the worst [00:30:52] offenders. You agree with that, guys? [00:30:53] That's a fair that's a fair assessment. [00:30:55] Um, but I think you talk about tactics [00:30:58] and you talked about the response to [00:31:00] things. Look, we don't want to employ [00:31:03] tactics [00:31:04] that [00:31:06] we don't want to employ the kind of [00:31:08] tactics that are only necessary when [00:31:10] violence is committed against officers. [00:31:11] That is these guys directive and that's [00:31:14] what we're going to try to do. And and [00:31:15] and again, you the president said this a [00:31:17] couple of days ago. Whenever you have a [00:31:19] law enforcement operation, even if [00:31:21] 99.99% [00:31:22] of the guys do everything perfectly, [00:31:24] you're going to have people that make [00:31:25] mistakes. That is the nature of law [00:31:27] enforcement. What I do think that we can [00:31:29] do is working with state and local [00:31:32] officials, we can make the worst moments [00:31:34] of chaos much less common. And all [00:31:36] they've got to do is meet us halfway. [00:31:39] These guys want to communicate with [00:31:40] them. They want to talk to the local [00:31:42] business leaders. They many of these [00:31:44] guys, many of the people standing behind [00:31:45] me are members of the Minneapolis [00:31:47] community. Many of the officials that I [00:31:49] met today who work in federal [00:31:50] immigration enforcement. This is their [00:31:52] home. They love this place. These are [00:31:54] their neighbors. They want this to work [00:31:57] a lot more smoothly. I think that we can [00:31:59] get there. We just got to work at it a [00:32:01] little bit and we need some cooperation [00:32:03] from state and local officials. Last [00:32:04] thing that I'll say is is I just hope [00:32:06] they give it. This is a beautiful city. [00:32:08] Uh I've only been here a few times. I [00:32:09] love it. Even in this weather, I love [00:32:11] Minneapolis. We could do a lot better. [00:32:13] We could do a lot more with more [00:32:15] cooperation. The Trump administration, [00:32:17] the directive that I got from the [00:32:19] president of the United States is meet [00:32:20] these guys halfway. Work with them so [00:32:23] that we can make these immigration [00:32:24] enforcement operations successful [00:32:26] without endangering our ICE officers and [00:32:29] so that we can turn down the chaos a [00:32:31] little bit at least. I think a lot [00:32:33] actually. But for us to do that, we need [00:32:36] some help from the state and local [00:32:38] officials. We will keep on working with [00:32:39] them and so long as they're willing to [00:32:41] work with us, they will always find a [00:32:43] partner in public safety and law [00:32:44] enforcement in the Trump administration. [00:32:46] Thank you all. [00:32:58] Brazil. [00:33:00] >> Go back.