MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Vice President JD Vance is set to visit Minnesota on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to Fox News, as tensions remain high about federal immigration enforcement operations there.
The source said Vance will deliver remarks and hold a roundtable with local leaders and community members in Minneapolis.
A White House official told Fox News on Wednesday that "the Vice President will highlight the Administration's commitment to restoring law and order in Minneapolis."
The official added that Vance will meet with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while in Minnesota "to reinforce the White House's unwavering support for federal immigration officials."
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"In his remarks, the Vice President will point out how Minneapolis's sanctuary city policies have degraded public safety and endangered ICE officers. He will also celebrate the essential work ICE agents have done to take dangerous, criminal illegal aliens off of America's streets," the White House official said.
Vance's trip comes as Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz invited President Donald Trump to visit his state.
"Mr. President, Minnesota invites you to see our values in action. Come see how communities from all walks of life are working together, and how the spirit of this state refuses to be defined by division or fear," Walz wrote in a statement shared on X on Tuesday.
"I invite you to join me, and others in our community, to help restore calm and order and reaffirm that true public safety comes from shared purpose, trust, and respect," Walz added.
Walz and other prominent Minnesota Democrats, including state Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, were served Tuesday with subpoenas from the Justice Department over an alleged conspiracy to obstruct or impede federal law enforcement during ongoing ICE operations.
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The state has become a flash point in the national debate over federal immigration enforcement following the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.
"Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasn't hit by a car, wasn't being harassed, and murdered an innocent woman. The reality is that his life was endangered, and he fired in self-defense," Vance wrote in an X post about the shooting earlier this month.
In another post, Vance said, "This is an extremely important point: you're only seeing chaotic ICE raids in blue sanctuary cities where local officials are fighting against federal law enforcement."
And at a White House news briefing earlier this month, the vice president claimed that Good had been "brainwashed" and argued that the Minneapolis mother of three had links to a "broader, left-wing network."
The vice president was previously in Minnesota in September, in the wake of a mass shooting at a Minneapolis-area Catholic Church.
Vance is expected to stop earlier on Thursday in his home state of Ohio. The vice president's office announced that Vance would travel to an industrial shipping facility in Toledo to deliver remarks about the administration's efforts to lower prices.
