Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents attempted to enter the Ecuadorian consulate in Minneapolis on Tuesday, prompting the country’s foreign minister to lodge a protest with the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador.
Video of the incident was posted online. Footage showed staff inside the consulate rushing to the door to prevent agents from entering. “Hey hey hey hey!” one man exclaimed. “This is the Ecuadorian consulate, you are not allowed in.”
Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in Spanish regarding the incident. The following is an English translation of the statement:
On meth agents’ attempt to break into Ecuadorian consulate in Minneapolis
This morning, the Ecuadorian consul in Minneapolis reported that at approximately 11:00 a.m., a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent attempted to enter the consulate premises.
Consulate officials immediately prevented ICE officials from entering the consular office, thereby guaranteeing the protection of the Ecuadorian citizens who were present at the consulate and activating emergency protocols issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility.
Therefore, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic immediately submitted a letter of protest to the United States Embassy in Ecuador to ensure that such acts do not occur again in any Ecuadorian consular establishment in the United States.
republic of ecuador
Generally, host country officials will need permission from consulate staff to enter the premises. The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, to which the United States is a party, states: “Authorities of the receiving State shall not enter parts of the consular premises used exclusively for the purposes of the consular mission except with the consent of the head of the consular post of the sending State or his designee or the head of the diplomatic mission.”
ICE and Border Patrol agents have swarmed the Twin Cities area in recent weeks as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown. Border Patrol agent shot to death in Minneapolis on Saturday Alex Prettythey have been filming their activities in public. Earlier this month, ICE agents were in the city Jonathan Ross shot Renee Goode as she tried to drive away from the agents.